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Iran could boycott the London Olympics after claiming the Games' 2012 logo is "racist" because it resembles the word "Zion" - a biblical term for Jerusalem.

Iran's National Olympic Committee sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee criticising the emblem and its perceived link to the city.

The letter also urges other Muslim states to oppose the "racist logo".

A statement from the IOC said: "The London 2012 logo represents the figure 2012, nothing else."

The London logo shows the numbers "2012" in four jagged figures and until now has only been criticised for its design.

With 18 months until the Olympics, a statement from the London Organising Committee added: " was launched in 2007 following testing and consultation.

"We are surprised that this complaint has been made now."

The letter from Bahram Afsharzadeh, the secretary general of Iran's NOC, was sent to IOC president Jacques Rogge and continued: "There is no doubt that negligence of the issue from your side may affect the presence of some countries in the games, especially Iran which abides by commitment to the values and principles."

Iran won a gold and bronze at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to finish 51st in the medals table.

Hadi Saei won the taekwondo title in the men's under 80kg category. The competition saw Britain's Aaron Cook miss out on a bronze medal after some controversial judging.

Iran's other medal came courtesy of Seyedmorad Mohammadi, who won bronze in the men's 60kg freestyle wrestling.