Peace talks were cover for Israeli crimes, Iran's leader charges

Sep 10, 2010, 7:58 GMT

Tehran - The Middle East peace talks held last week in Washington were another effort by the West to cover for Israeli crimes in the Palestinian territories, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said Friday.

'You cannot just sit and watch the suppression of the Palestinian nation and then suddenly hold a conference for peace,' the ayatollah said at a prayer ceremony in Tehran marking Eid al-Fitr, the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

Iran supports the Palestinian group Hamas as the real representative of the Palestinian nation and said any peace negotiations without the presence of Hamas, which wasn't present in Washington, would be futile.

'What peace? Peace between whom?' asked Khamenei, who according to the constitution has the final say on all state affairs. 'The aim of this so-called peace conference was just to cover up the crimes of the Zionist regime.'

The negotiations were the first direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in nearly two years.

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