Iran stages anti-Israel rallies amid peace talks in Washington

Sep 3, 2010, 7:17 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Friday staged anti-Israeli rallies nationwide while direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians were under way in Washington.

The late supreme leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.

The rallies this year coincided with the first direct Middle East peace talks in almost two years, in Washington, where US President Barack Obama was hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Iranian state media, millions of people were expected to attend the state-run rallies throughout the country and voice their support for Palestinians and the 'liberation of their lands from the Zionist regime's (Israel's) occupation.'

'Today millions of people will shout out their will for liberation of the holy Quds from the devil's claw of Zionists,' the Fars news agency reported.

Iran does not recognize Israel's sovereignty and said the only pragmatic option to resolve the Middle East conflict would be a referendum for all Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, to determine their fate.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday predicted that the talks in Washington would once again fail because the main demand of the Palestinian people, which is an end to the Israeli occupation, was once again not being considered.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast on Friday described the Washington meeting as 'futile compromise talks' and told ISNA news agency that 'the Palestinians were smarter than being deceived by this kind of theatre.'

Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani told state television Friday that 'the dilemma could not be settled by theatrics staged in Washington as the Palestinian issue was not a toy but a very serious matter which solely had one solution: giving Palestinians back their rights.'

During the rallies, the pro-government Basij militia group was to distribute two video games as an effort to reach the younger generation and expose 'Zionists' crimes and atrocities in Palestine,' state TV reported.

The highlight of the Quds Day was scheduled to be the Friday prayers at Tehran University where Ahmadinejad planned to hold the first sermon and the hardline Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami the main sermon.