Iran: PA-Israel talks show-off

In the wake of direct talks between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel in Washington, an Iranian lawmaker says the meeting was for “show-off and ineffective.”

“The meeting showed that, as predicted, it was of a pose and had link with the upcoming US elections,” Spokesman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Kazem Jalali said on Sunday.

The spokesperson added that US President Barack Obama is attempting to help the Democrats in the November elections, saying, “I believe the current measures by the US president have a direct link with the upcoming vote.”

Jalali cited anti-Iran sanctions resolution, withdrawal of US forces from Iraq and the recent PA-Israel talks as among moves by Obama to secure his party’s win.

He said the Palestinian issue cannot be resolved by holding few meetings in the United States, adding, “Democrats know that the Washington direct talks will bear no fruit.”

“Obama has called on the Zionist regime (Israel) to stop settlement activities but his request was denied by Israel’s right-wing extremists,” the Iranian parliamentarian went on to say.

Acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held direct negotiations in Washington on Thursday after about 20 months.

Talks broke off at the turn of 2009, when Israel launched a full-scale war on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 1,400 Palestinians.

The PA was reportedly railroaded into joining the talks after inordinate United States pressure, including Washington’s threats that the PA would lose American ties, should it raise any objections.