Middle East News
Iran's Khamenei says Mideast peace summit aimed at saving Israel
Oct 13, 2007, 6:15 GMT
Tehran - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday termed the forthcoming Middle East peace conference an effort by the United States to save Israel, rather than to bring peace to the Palestinian Territories.
'This so-called peace conference is another imposition on Palestine... the US initiative is an effort to save the Zionist regime (Israel) from collapse rather than bringing peace to Palestine,' the Iranian leader said at the Eid al-Fitr prayer ceremony - marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan - which was attended by tens of thousands of Iranian worshippers in the capital Tehran.
The ayatollah was referring to the conference which is reportedly to be held next month in Annapolis, Maryland, with the aim of enabling a peace accord between the Israelis and Palestinians.
'How can other countries plan and attend a peace conference which is rejected by the Palestinian government and nation?' Khamenei said referring to the rejections by leaders of the Hamas group in Gaza and Syria.
Ayatollah Khamenei, who constitutionally has the final say on all state affairs in Iran, said all Middle East peace plans initiated by the West have so far failed and predicted the same fate for the upcoming conference.
'Palestine should solely be saved by Palestinians themselves and the Islamic world has the duty to support them,' Khamenei said while rejecting any Western interference.
Iran does not acknowledge the Israeli state and wants a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital to be established.
Teheran further accuses Washington of seeking to strengthen Israel and undermine the influence of Muslim states in the Middle East.
The ayatollah also held the US responsible for the ongoing insecurity and 'blind terrorism' in Iraq.
'The US does not want or is not capable of securing Iraq and therefore is mainly responsible for the catastrophe in Iraq and misery of the Iraqi people,' Khamenei said.
Tehran has constantly denied US charges of Iranian involvement in Iraq and support of insurgents as an effort to cover US failures in that country.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
FREEDOM FIGHTER,
If all the Iraqies laid down their arms right now, It wouldn't make a blind diference to the Americans, they are there for the oil, and has a staging post for an attack on Iran. nothing is going to stop Bush @ his nutters in the whitehouse, from starting a middle east war it's what the Zionist state of Israel wants and what they want they get. It won't be any different if the DEMS win the 2008 elections. They are controlled by the same cabal as the REPS. The USA well go down in history as the most hated country in the world, and deserve it. Yes the fighters in Iraq are freedom fighters getting rid of an illegal occupation of their country. Something that you Americans don't seem to understand.
page: 1
Freedom Fighter / TerroristsOct 13th, 2007 - 08:00:19
The neighbouring Muslim nations have always called the Iraqi terrorists who blow themselves up at markets, killing normal Iraqi citizens - freedom fighters.
Even though that country has a constitution and an elected government, in many quarters of the Muslim world these most foreign terrorists are still seen as fighting for Iraq's freedom.
Whereas if these so-called freedom fighters were not there, the American coalition would have no justifiable reason to remain in Iraq. The truth is that in the Islamic world these freedom fighters are not seem as fighting for Iraq - per se - as fighting for a greater Islamic state or the umma (the world of Islam) that it hopes will rule the world one day and that is the real reason we don't have peace a security in Iraq today.
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