Iran to hold own global summit to aid Gaza, Palestinians

IRAN: Iran was to begin a two-day international conference yesterday to help rebuild the Gaza Strip and support the Palestinians, just days after a global donors meeting in Egypt.

The summit in Tehran would see Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad address the gathering which is expected to be attended by officials from neighbouring countries.

“The conference will discuss the issue of aiding Palestinians and also find a solution to the Zionist regime’s adventures against Palestinians,” Ali Larijani, speaker of Iran’s parliament, told FARS news agency.

He said Iran’s solution to the Israel-Palestinian issue, which is based on a “democratic principle”, has already been outlined by Khamenei.

Khamenei has called for the return of all Palestinian refugees to what is now Israel followed by a referendum on the future of the territory.

Tehran is firmly opposed to a two-state solution to solve the Israel-Palestinian issue.

Iran is an arch-foe of Israel and does not recognise its existence. It is a close ally of the Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza.

Tehran has also strongly criticised Israel’s deadly 22-day offensive in Gaza in December-January that killed 1,300 Palestinians and also 13 Israelis.

The conference in Tehran comes two days after a major international donors conference was held in Egypt in which world powers participated.

Donors pledged around 4.5 billion dollars for reconstruction of Gaza during the Egypt summit.

TEHRAN, AFP