issue of the day—the bid by Palestine for full UN membership—and the silence may indicate that Tehran is struggling to cope with the issue.
The Islamic world is overwhelmingly in favor of the Palestine Authority being recognized as the Republic of Palestine.
The only significant nay-sayers come from Hamas, the ruling party in Gaza that is heavily funded by the Islamic Republic.
It appears that Tehran is split between those who are in Hamas’s corner and dearly wish to give it full support, and those who want Iran to take the route that would earn it brownie points across the Arab world, where the Islamic Republic wishes to be seen as the leading power rejecting Israel.
The latter group fears that if Iran were to oppose Palestinian statehood, its star would sink across the Arab world.
Based on Ahmadi-nejad’s speech to the UN General Assembly last Thursday, it appears the Islamic Republic is trying to hide from the issue and to hope no one will notice.
So far, few have.
In Tehran, however, one Majlis deputy, Parviz Sarvari, a member of the National Security Committee, has publicly criticized Palestine’s bid for statehood, arguing that it would strengthen the Israeli and American hand.
Sarvari’s logic was a tad strained; he argued that the statehood proposal was an Israeli ploy to set Palestinians against Palestinians. But it has not done that. Palestinians clearly like the idea overwhelmingly. It is Hamas that is fearful the proposal might sidetrack Hamas.
Sarvari said, “Israelis have proven they have no intention of making a deal with the Palestinians.… Through the bid to establish a Palestinian state, they are trying to turn the Israeli-Palestinian dispute into a Palestinian-Palestinian feud and cause a rift among them.”
Sarvari said another goal behind the statehood request submitted by the Palestine Authority (PA) is to “sanctify” Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the PA as the leader of Palestine despite the fact that his term ran out long ago. The Palestinians have not been able to agree on how to hold selections so Abbas, who has said he wishes to retire, remains in office.
Sarvari argued that the people of the West Bank, where the PA rules, are progressively turning to Hamas and that is why the United States and Israel are desperate to “sanctify” Abbas.
In an interview with The Associated Press in New York, Ahmadi-nejad was asked directly about his support for Palestinian statehood. He gave a wordy response that never addressed the core issue.
“At he end of the day, at one point, the Palestinian government will stand up, will be created, if not this year, next year, if not next year, the following year, because these people do exist,” Ahmadi-nejad said. “They are 10 million strong. You cannot erase them from history.”
But he did not say where Iran stands on the proposal officially presented Friday by Abbas for the United Nations to recognize Palestine as a full state.