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Fatah: Iran Has Not Offered a Dime to the Palestinian People

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
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Fatah: Iran Has Not Offered a Dime to the Palestinian People

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AFP)

The Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Saturday that the current Iranian government and previous ones have never presented a “dime” to the Palestinian people.

He made his remarks in wake of recent anti-government protests in Tehran in which demonstrators chanted “death to Palestine.” They also condemned all countries that receive Iranian support at the expense of their own interests.

Fatah condemned the “cheap” chants, asking: “Do the Iranian believe that their governments have ever offered a dime to the Palestinian people? This is absolutely false.”

Fatah official spokesman Usama al-Qawasimi said in a statement: “It is shameful for some to believe that the economic crisis in Iran was caused by support to the Palestinian people. Iran has never presented anything to the Palestinians even though Fatah and the Palestinian Liberation Organization supported the 1979 Kohmeini revolution.”

“We have never insulted them by words or actions and we have never meddled in their internal affairs,” he stressed.

“We have never heard of Iran contributing to the construction of a school, university or hospital. We have never seen any development project,” he continued.

The Iranians are very wrong in believing that Tehran’s support for a party means that it supports the Palestinian people, he added.

Qawasimi stated: “Iran has never supported the Palestinian people through its backing for Hamas.”

Moreover, he underlined Fatah and the Palestinian people’s “respect and appreciation” for the Iranian people, condemning the “misleading voices” that do not represent the Iranians, “who support the rights of Palestinians.”

Iranians took to the streets of the capital Tehran earlier this week to protest their country’s poor economic situation.

Videos posted on social media showed them chanting against Palestine, as well as the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. They called on the authorities to “leave Syria and think of us.” They also chanted: “We do not want the Ayatollah” and “death to the dictator.”

In addition, they condemned the authorities for providing financial support for the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad movements, Lebanon’s “Hezbollah”, Yemen’s Houthi militias, Iraqi Shiite groups and the Syrian regime.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah have long rejected Iranian support for any Palestinian faction, saying it would be aimed at stoking division.

Tehran’s support for Hamas has led to major tensions between the PA and Iran in the past.

In March 2009, Abbas made the first open demand to Iran to cease its meddling in Palestinian affairs, accusing it of deepening divisions.

Iran must instead turn its attention to its own issues, he added.

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Iran: We Will Not Retreat from Our Principles in Nuclear Talks

President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, visit an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear industry achievements, last April (Iranian Presidency)
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, visit an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear industry achievements, last April (Iranian Presidency)
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Iran: We Will Not Retreat from Our Principles in Nuclear Talks

President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, visit an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear industry achievements, last April (Iranian Presidency)
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, visit an exhibition of Iran’s nuclear industry achievements, last April (Iranian Presidency)

Iran on Tuesday said it is open to accepting temporary limits on its uranium enrichment but Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pledged that his country will never retreat from its core principles in the nuclear talks.

“These negotiations will be fully aligned with the Supreme Leader’s guidance, which will light our path,” the president said in a meeting with members of the Iranian Parliament’s Independent Faction.

He added, “We have not tied the livelihood of our people to the outcome of these talks - nor will we ever do so. We will never retreat from our principles in these negotiations, but we do not seek tension either.”

Tehran and Washington held their fourth round of nuclear talks on Sunday in Doha, with no apparent breakthrough.

On Tuesday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi informed the National Security Committee that during indirect talks with the US, “uranium enrichment is a non-negotiable red line.”

“Uranium enrichment in Iran’s peaceful nuclear program is a red line for the country, alongside its defense and regional strength. Iran is not engaging in discussions regarding its enrichment principles,” Gharibabadi said, according to Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesman for the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission.

Rezaei said some lawmakers suggested Tehran should withdraw from the nuclear talks “until Iran's right to enrichment is publicly recognized, and sanctions and threats are stopped.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi again said Iran is open to accepting temporary limits on its uranium enrichment, without abandoning its nuclear program as requested by the US administration.

“For a limited period of time, we can accept a series of restrictions on the level and volume of enrichment,” said Takht-Ravanchi.

“We have not yet gone into details about the level and volume of enrichment,” he said, quoted by Tasnim news agency.

The Iranian official added that negotiations are still in the early stages, and no specific details about the limitations have been discussed yet.

“We have not reached the stage where we would determine a specific timeframe or enrichment percentage,” he said.

Takht-Ravanchi then argued that US behavior undermines trust. “American officials' threatening and non-threatening statements fail to build confidence and instead cast doubts and suspicions on Washington's position,” he noted.

On Monday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards aerospace commander, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, said the country’s offensive capabilities have expanded, and that Iran’s adversaries are now more vulnerable to retaliation than ever before.

In a closed-door session with Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, Hajizadeh dismissed recent reports suggesting a decline in Iran’s defense strength as part of what he called a Western and Israeli media campaign aimed at undermining Iran’s image.