VIENNA, AVSTRIA

Iran's president rebuked President Bush on Monday for his "axis of evil" comments, suggesting they revealed an appetite for war in Washington.

Countries that make such statements against Iran are "powers who want to have war,'' President Mohammad Khatami said as he began a three-day visit to Austria.

"States shouldn't describe their opponents as evil but should fight the real evil, which is poverty, injustice, terrorism and violence," he said.

Iran has not been linked to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but the United States has long accused the country of sponsoring terrorism worldwide and of secretly developing nuclear weapons, charges Iran has denied. The CIA says Iran probably will have missiles capable of reaching the United States by 2015.

In Bush's Jan. 29 State of the Union address, he singled out Iran, Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil arming to threaten the peace of the world." He promised to choke off any programs to develop weapons of mass destruction, saying such arms might be given to terrorists.

Asked what he thought of Bush's comments, Khatami said: "I don't let myself be moved by daily insults. I'll let history be my judge."

Austrian President Thomas Klestil also criticized Bush's remarks. "I don't agree with this view, Austria doesn't agree with this view and the European Union doesn't agree with this view either," Klestil said.

Khatami is considered a moderate by Austria and other European Union nations. However, opponents of the current government say Khatami is just as repressive as other fundamentalist Iranian leaders.

On Monday, hundreds of Iranians gathered in a square downtown to protest Khatami's visit. They said Austria's reception of Khatami strengthens the hand of Iran's hard-liners now in control in Tehran.

"Austrian leaders have blood on their hands for inviting him," said one protester, Nadereh Majdpour, who traveled from her home in Berlin to demonstrate. She said she had been imprisoned for four years and tortured for taking part in a pro-democracy protest in Iran 20 years ago.

The demonstration was organized by the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a Paris-based group that bills itself as Iran's parliament-in-exile. A spokesman for the group, Firouz Mahvi, said hundreds more had hoped to join the protest, but were prevented entry into the country by Austrian officials.