Iran rejects two-state solution, calls for referendum on Palestine

Oct 1, 2011, 10:56 GMT

Tehran - Iran on Saturday rejected the two-state solution for Palestine and said only a referendum by all Palestinians and full liberation from occupation could settle the dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis.

'Only a referendum on the future fate of Palestine could enable a fair and just solution to the dilemma,' Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at a 'Support for the Palestinian Intifada' conference in Tehran.

'The plan should solely be liberation of every single inch of Palestine and any partial solution such as the two-state option is rejected as it would be giving concession to the Zionists and deprive Palestinians to live in their own lands,' he said.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran has not recognized the sovereignty of the Israeli state and has so far followed an antagonistic approach towards any peace plan.

Tehran has in recent years openly supported the Islamist Hamas movement in Gaza as the legitimately elected political power of the Palestinians but rejected any military help to the group.

Iran says the efforts by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to seek a two-state solution were doomed to fail and a futile compromise that would eventually only be in the interests of Israel and the United States.

All Palestinians, including the millions of refugees, should take part in a referendum on the future fate of their lands, Iran says, and that the West should take the results of that referendum as the only just solution for the dispute.

'The West is at a juncture of either acknowledging the Palestinian rights or await heavier blows,' Khamenei said without elaborating further.

The ayatollah, who according to the constitution has the final say on all state affairs, also accused US President Barack Obama of supporting Israel in order to secure a second term in office.

He called Israel an 'octopus' whose will for regional domination would eventually also paralyze the US and Europe and the continued support would 'lead them to a hell with no way out.'

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