Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Iranian leader: We'd support an Israeli-Palestianian peace agreement


by Muriel Kane
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Israel's new hardline prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, insists that he will not consider peace talks with the Palestinians until the US has taken action to curb Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions. This has been seen as a serious stumbling block to President Obama's belief that progress on Israeli-Palestinian talks must come first and will provide him with increased leverage over Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, however, may have thrown a wild card into the stalemate on Sunday when he told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that he would be fine with supporting any peace agreement the Palestinians might reach with Israel.

"If the Palestinian people negotiate an agreement with Israel and the Palestinian people vote and support that agreement, a two state solution, will Iran support it? " Stephanopoulos asked?

"Nobody should interfere," Ahmadinejad replied. "Allow the Palestinian people to decide for themselves, whatever they decide. It is the right of all human beings."

"But if they choose a two state solution, if they choose to recognize Israel's existence, Iran will as well? " Stephanopoulos pursued.

To that, Ahmadinejad replied, "Let me approach this from another perspective. If the Palestinians decide that the Zionist regime needs to leave all Palestinian lands, would the American administration accept their decision? Will they accept this Palestinian point of view?

"Whatever decision they take is fine with us," he emphasized. "We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that."

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Iranian_leader_We_would_support_any_0426.html