IRAN: Iranian President objects to a peace summit taking place in the United States

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticised the peace conference due to take place in the United States on Tuesday (November 25). In an address on Sunday (November 25), during 'Basij Week', which celebrates the work of the Iranian voluntary forces, he said such summits could have no value until the rights of the Palestinians were fulfilled completely. And he questioned those taking part in the conference at Annapolis in Maryland on Tuesday (November 27). "Palestine is alive. The Palestinians are awake. Which one of them is representative of the Palestinian nation? Which right do they have to go there?" said Ahmadinejad. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said a Middle East peace conference organised by the United States would result in an erosion of Palestinian rights. Hosseini said as leaders of the summit the Americans were not credible or unbiased mediators. "They have always supported the Zionist regime" he said. The Arab League agreed on Friday (November 16), to attend the meeting in the hope of promoting the creation of a Palestinian state and pushing for the return of occupied Syrian land. On Iran's continuing conflict with the United States over its nuclear plans, Hosseini agreed to continue negotiations. Further talks are due to take place on December 11.

ITN Source | November 25, 2007

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