Iran opposes two-state solution for Palestine, calls for ‘democratic’ solution

Ebrahim Raisi n Mohammed bin Salman

12 November 2023; MEMO: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has reiterated Tehran’s position on rejecting the so-called two-state solution for an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, and has instead called for a democratic solution for a single state based on ballot boxes involving Palestinians of all faiths.

According to Tasnim News Agency, Raisi made the remarks while speaking to reporters upon returning to Tehran after attending the joint emergency summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League held in Saudi Arabia amid the ongoing genocidal war by the occupation state against the Gaza Strip.

“Participation in this summit was important in two aspects; One is that this summit was held with the presence of all Islamic and Arab countries, and the other is that its topic was the main issue of today’s world and all the people of the world,” Raisi told reporters.

“Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Iran has had a clear opinion about the rights of the Palestinian people, and on the other hand, it has always regarded the Zionist regime as a fake, usurping and identity-less regime,” he added.

The Iranian president noted that the Islamic Republic’s position, unlike other countries in attendance opposed the two-state solution, stating that: “In this summit, contrary to what some say about the future of the Palestinian issue in the form of the solution of the two governments, we stated that we have presented a completely democratic solution based on referring to the votes of all Palestinians, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, to determine their future.”

Iran also set itself apart from other participants by “introducing the United States as the main culprit in these crimes, which has played the biggest role in creating, survival, and arming and supporting the Zionist regime in the killing of Palestinian women and children.”

As part of his 10 solutions to the war of aggression against Gaza itself, Raisi called for the Israeli military to be designated as a terrorist organization and for Israeli and US leaders to be tried in an international court, the reconstruction and sending of humanitarian aid to Gaza and for the “arming the people of Gaza, if Israel’s relentless crimes and Washington’s support for the regime’s conduct continue.”