Eurasia Press & News
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a referendum to determine the future of the Palestinians and urged Western governments to end their support for Israel.
“Our position is clear on this issue. A referendum should take place in Palestine. If they withdraw from invaded lands it would be a good step,” Speaking in an interview with Turkey’s NTV and CNN-Turk television channels, the Iranian president said.
Ahmadinejad is currently in Turkey on a two-day official visit.
“Israel is acting dishonestly, Palestinians are under dictatorship, oppression for the last 60 years,” Ahmadinejad said.
Israel has voiced misgivings over Ahmadinejad’s visit to Turkey saying it was “not the appropriate time” for Turkey to host Ahmadinejad.
Israel and the US are at loggerheads with Iran over the latter’s progress in the field of civilian nuclear technology.
Israel and its close ally the United States accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Iran has also insisted that it would continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.
Tel Aviv and Washington have recently intensified their threats to launch military action against Iran to make Tehran drop what they allege to be a non-peaceful nuclear program, while a recent report by 16 US intelligence bodies endorsed the civilian nature of Iran’s nuclear plans and activities.
Following the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) and similar reports by the IAEA head – one in November and the other one in February – which praised Iran’s truthfulness about key aspects of its past nuclear activities and announced settlement of outstanding issues with Tehran, any effort to impose further sanctions or launch military attack on Iran seems to be completely irrational.
The February report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, praised Iran’s cooperation in clearing up all of the past questions over its nuclear program, vindicating Iran’s nuclear program and leaving no justification for any new UN sanctions.
The UN nuclear watchdog has so far carried out at least 14 surprise inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, but found nothing to support the allegations.
Following the said reports by the US and international bodies, many world states have called the UN Security Council pressure against Tehran unjustified, demanding that Iran’s case must be normalized and returned from the UNSC to the IAEA.
