Palestine status upgrade step toward sovereignty: Iran

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says the UN Palestine vote is a step towards restoring the right of Palestinians to governing their lands.

“Following the victory of the resistance [movement] in the field in Gaza, the acceptance of Palestine as a UN observer state is a positive step and shows the international community’s awareness of the rights of Palestine and illegitimacy of the Zionist regime [of Israel],” Amir-Abdollahian said Friday.

He pointed out that, Iran considers Palestine’s upgrade an “initial step towards the complete sovereignty of Palestinians over the occupied lands, the return of all Palestinians to their homeland and the continuation of resistance against the illegitimate regime of Israel.”

Earlier on Friday, Iran’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, Mohammad Khazaei, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement also called for the restoration of the right of Palestinians to sovereignty and independence.

The Iranian envoy described the Tel Aviv regime’s repeated trampling on the rights of Palestinians and the siege of Gaza as clear examples of Israel’s blatant violation of the Palestinian rights and said the recent Israeli attack on Gaza which resulted in 160 deaths was in contravention of international law.

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted to upgrade Palestine’s status at the UN from “non-member observer entity” to “non-member observer state” despite strong opposition from Israel and the US.

Some 138 members voted in favor of the measure, nine against and 41 abstained.

The upgrade allows the Palestinians to participate in debates at the UN General Assembly and improve their chances of joining UN agencies and the International Criminal Court where they could file complaints against Israel.