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Iranian President Slams Camp David Talks
Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has lashed out at the Middle East peace talks now under way at Camp David in Maryland, the United States, saying the talks are doomed to fail.
Any solution to the Middle East crisis without taking into account its roots is doomed to fail, Khatami said in a statement, quoted by the official IRNA news agency Tuesday.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are continuing their marathon talks at Camp David in the 15th day, without any visible breakthrough on the toughest issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Khatami said the Middle East conflict was one of the most important crises in the past half century and it stemmed from Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, which has resulted in the mass exodus of Palestinians, who are the principal target of recurring damage.
He said that Jerusalem, currently under Israeli occupation, belongs to the Palestinians and it must be returned to them.
The issue of Jerusalem is not purely a Palestinian-Israeli dispute, he said, it is up to all Muslims to strive for its liberation because Jerusalem has an exalted status among Islamic states.
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also has condemned the US-brokered talks between Israel and Palestinians, saying any Palestinian compromise with Israel would fail because of resistance by radical Palestinian groups.
"While the flag of struggle and resistance flies, the line of compromise is doomed to fail," Khamenei has said.
Iran, which refuses to recognize Israel, is opposed to the Middle East peace process and has always called for armed struggles to end Israeli occupation.
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