|
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has predicted the failure of the
Middle East talks and the removal of "the Zionist regime from the world
scene". by Our Foreign Staff
Published: 11:09AM BST 03 Sep 2010
Link to this video The hardline leader told the annual Palestinian solidarity day rally in
Tehran that a popular revolt by the people of the Middle East would
extinguish the Jewish homeland even if the governments reach a peace
agreement.
"If the leaders of the region do not have the guts, then the people of
the region are capable of removing the Zionist regime from the world
scene," he said. In response the pro-government crowd chanted "Death to America. Death to
Israel." President Ahmadinejad said that direct peace talks which Western-backed
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas relaunched with Israel in Washington
on Thursday after a 20-month hiatus were "doomed" to fail. "What do they want to negotiate about? Who are they representing? What
are they going to talk about?" the Iranian president said of the
Palestinian leadership. "Who gave them the right to sell piece of Palestinian land? The people
of Palestine and the people of the region will not allow them to sell
even an inch of Palestinian soil to the enemy. "The negotiations are stillborn and doomed." Iran is implacably opposed to the new peace talks and has given strong
support to the Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza and which
carried out two shooting attacks against Israeli settlers in the
occupied West Bank in the run-up to their relaunch that killed four and
wounded two. Pro-government militiamen had attacked the home of an Iranian opposition
leader with homemade bombs and beat one of his bodyguards unconscious to
kim him from attending the rally. Mehdi Karroubi's guards had to fire gunshots in the air to clear crowds
that broke down the door of his home on Thursday night after days of
gatherings outside. Members of the plainclothes Basij militia that led the crackdown on the
protests that swept the country in response to allegations of fraud in
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's June 2009 re-election. Mr Karroubi was
one of the pro-reform candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad. While the government uses the occasion as an anti-Israel outpouring and
to show its support for the Palestinians, Karroubi and other opposition
leaders used the day last year to gather tens of thousands of their own
supporters into the streets, and violent clashes broke out with security
forces. Mr Karroubi, a cleric, and Mir Hossein Mousavi were the two pro-reform
candidates who ran against Ahmadinejad in 2009. Mousavi claims he won
the election but that it was stolen from him through massive fraud. Mr Mousavi condemned the attack on Karroubi's home, saying it proved the
government's "enmity against Israel is an excuse" for attacking
opposition figures. "Karroubi and figures like him and other
freedom-seekers are the real enemies of authoritarians." The opposition has not held any street demonstrations since February and
canceled plans for a rally on the anniversary of the election. Since the vote, authorities have detained thousands and tried scores on
charges of fomenting postelection unrest. More than 80 of them were
sentenced to prison terms from six months to 15 years. Ten were
sentenced to death, and their cases are being appealed.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites  |
