Larijani: Hamas must have a voice in decisions on Palestine

Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says any decision on Palestine must be made in consultation with Hamas.
On a Palestinian statehood recognition bid at the UN, he said on Monday the two-state solution is not going to resolve the issue of Palestine.

Larijani said there is no option but resistance, and Muslim countries should stand by Palestinians on this matter because they cannot pin their hopes on the Westerners, including Americans, or the UN.

Mahmoud Abbas has decided to apply to the UN Security Council for a full UN membership of a Palestinian state.

Larijani also praised the unity among the Palestinian groups and said it should be noted that this unity must be promoted within the framework of the aims set by the groups, and causes of the Palestinian people should also be realized in the process of promoting unity.

He went on to say that the objective of the 5th international conference on the Palestinian Intifada is to safeguard the Palestinians’ rights and to defend “resistance”.

“Palestine, homeland of Palestinians”, is the motto of the conference, which is scheduled to be held in Tehran on October 1 and 2, Larijani told a press conference.

The 1st international conference in support of the Palestinian Intifada, which was held in Tehran in 1991, coincided with the Madrid Conference. The 2nd conference was held in May 2001 when the second intifada, also known as the al-Aqsa Intifada, took place.

The 3rd conference in support of the Intifada was also held in Tehran in April 2006 when some parts of the Al-Aqsa Mosque were destroyed by the Zionist regime.

The 4th conference on Intifada, which was also held in Tehran in March 2009, coincided with the military invasion of the Gaza Strip by the Zionists.

In reply to a question about claims that Iranian officials have different stances toward Syria’s developments, he said there is no disagreement on this issue.

Some intend to liken the issue of Syria to the uprisings occurring in Bahrain and Yemen, and this way of thinking is “simplicity”, he added.

However, he said, the Syrian government should safeguard its people’s rights and be committed to democracy, because the stability in the region depends on the regional countries’ commitment to democracy.