Iran slams PA’s Ahmadinejad remarks
Iran criticizes the Palestinian Authority spokesman’s offensive remarks about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, advising Nabil Abu Rudeineh to be more cautious in his speech.
Speaking at the Quds Day rally on Friday, Ahmadinejad accused the Middle East mediators who have been engaged in direct talks with Israeli officials of being accomplices to Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians.
A day later, Abu Rudeineh reportedly questioned Ahmadinejad’s right to Iran’s presidency and said, “He is not entitled to talk about Palestine, or the Palestinian Authority chief,” The Jerusalem Post reported.
“He (Abu Rudeineh) should exercise more caution in wording his statements,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Sunday.
This is while Mahmoud Abbas’ term as the Palestinian Authority chief ended on January 9, 2009, and he has since refused to hold elections and leave office.
Mehmanparast added that Iran’s president, who was chosen with the overwhelming majority of votes, is responsible for announcing the country’s foreign policies as the representative of the people.
“All the activities of our country’s officials and the passionate participation of Iranians in the Quds Day [rallies], shows their concern about the fate of Palestinian people and their occupied lands,” Fars News Agency quoted the Iranian spokesman as saying.
Mehmanparast went on to say that those who are working in connection with the Palestinian issue should pursue the matter of “unity among Palestinian factions and the restoration of the violated rights of this nation.”
“Being influenced by the enemies of the Muslim World who are constantly hatching plots to fight the sacred establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and who pursue the issue of last year’s [presidential] election in our country [in order to use it] as an excuse to continue their mischievous ways in line with Zionist interests.”
The foreign ministry spokesman added that any disagreement among the Palestinian factions and tension among the people can result in them falling into Israel’s traps.
