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Iran Calls On Arabs To Support Palestinian Uprising
DAMASCUS, March 21 (News Agencies) - Iran called Wednesday on Arab countries to find a new approach to the Middle East that supports the Palestinians' uprising against Israel and excludes the United States from the region.
"New solutions and new choices must be sought to resolve the problem in the Middle East, because solutions that have already been tried have failed," Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi told reporters on a visit to Damascus, Iran's chief Arab ally.
He called on Arab leaders holding a March 27-28 summit in Amman, Jordan, to throw their support behind the nearly six-month-old Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, and demand Palestinian refugees' right to return to what is now called Israel.
"We hope that the Arab summit will make clear, frank and decisive decisions to support the Intifada. Iran will then support these decisions and back Arab and Islamic countries with all the force and abilities it has available," Kharazi said.
He also said the Middle East "must stop being a [U.S.] monopoly."
"Other powers must also be associated with to deal with the crisis, such as European countries, Russia, the United Nations and countries in the region," Kharazi said.
"Israel and the United States are opposed to the return of refugees and they talk about permanently settling them in their host countries. These countries must insist on the return of refugees and an international demand must be made on this," he said.
Some four million Palestinian refugees who lost their homes when Israel was created in 1948 live scattered throughout the Middle East and the world.
"When the Palestinians return home, the balance will have changed and ... the Muslims, Christians and Jews who lived in the region in the beginning will be able to choose the government they see fit," Kharazi said.
"This is a long term wish, but no one expected that the apartheid regime in South Africa would be replaced by a regime of the people. The same thing could happen in the Middle East and Palestine," he said.
Kharazi held talks Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after visiting Beirut, where he met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. Iran and Syria both support Hezbollah, the resistance movement that led a campaign to drive Israel from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation.
Kharazi denied his trip was meant to persuade the Arab summit not to discuss the status of three Gulf islands controlled by Iran but claimed by the United Arab Emirates.
"My visit is to address a very important issue, Palestine and the Intifada. The [island] case is too marginal for it to be part of my trip," he said.
He reiterated Iran's refusal to bring the dispute before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, calling for the problem to be resolved between Tehran and Abu Dhabi.
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