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Iran Denies Change in Policy toward Israel
Iran has not changed its policy toward Israel though the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Tehran is seeking peace in the Middle East.
"Although a number of Western media were trying to misuse the vivid attitudes Iran has adopted in this case, the U.N. chief was informed that Iran has not changed its attitude toward the illegal Zionist (Israeli) regime", Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Monday.
Khamenei said in a meeting with Annan here on Sunday that Iran demands full withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon and is seeking a peace that does not ignore the rights of the Palestinians, the Islamic Republic News Agency quoted him as saying.
Khamenei also underlined the Lebanon-Israel dispute "has not come to an end" and Israel must withdraw from other Lebanese lands, including the Shebba farms on Lebanon's border with Syria.
Some western media claimed a change in Iran's policy toward the Middle East peace process as Khamenei talked about peace in the region for the first time.
Iran has strongly opposed peace talks with Israel and supported armed struggle against Israeli occupation of Islamic and Arab lands. It also refuses to recognize the existence of Israel and termed it as a "usurper of Islamic and Arab territories."
Terming Annan's one-day visit to Tehran as "important," Asefi said the U.N. chief sought Tehran's support and help to solve the issues in the Middle East during his talks with high-ranking Iranian officials, including Khamenei, President Mohammad Khatami and Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi.
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