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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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World

Serbia Crosses ‘Red Line’ as War Criminal Funeral Sparks Outrage

A photograph taken on September 7, 2026 shows a monument reading the figure "8372...", representing the minimum recorded number of victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre at the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial and Cemetery in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AFP)
A photograph taken on September 7, 2026 shows a monument reading the figure "8372...", representing the minimum recorded number of victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre at the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial and Cemetery in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AFP)
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Serbia Crosses ‘Red Line’ as War Criminal Funeral Sparks Outrage

A photograph taken on September 7, 2026 shows a monument reading the figure "8372...", representing the minimum recorded number of victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre at the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial and Cemetery in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AFP)
A photograph taken on September 7, 2026 shows a monument reading the figure "8372...", representing the minimum recorded number of victims of the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre at the Srebrenica-Potocari Genocide Memorial and Cemetery in Potocari, near Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (AFP)

Bosnia's foreign minister on Tuesday expelled two Serbian diplomats and accused Belgrade of crossing "every red line" after several of its officials attended a funeral for war criminal Ratko Mladic.

At least six Serbian ministers were among thousands that attended Monday's funeral service which openly praised Mladic, who died last month in The Hague while serving a life sentence for war crimes committed during the Bosnian war.

The scenes in the capital of a European Union candidate country also drew condemnation from outside the Balkans, with EU chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa labelling the attendance of Serbian officials "deeply regrettable".

"Serbia's path into the European Union requires an unequivocal commitment to fundamental European values and historical truth," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.

Bosnia's foreign minister Elmedin Konakovic said he had ordered the defense envoy and an adviser of Serbia's intelligence service to leave the country.

Earlier he said he would recall Sarajevo's embassy staff from Serbia in an attempt to cut diplomatic ties to the "lowest possible level".

"They crossed every red line with what they did yesterday, the day before, and in the days leading up to the reception," Konakovic told a press conference in Sarajevo.

- 'Lip service' -

Despite Mladic's convictions, Serb nationalists and pro-government media still embrace him as a hero. Mourners wore shirts emblazoned with his face and held banners praising the former general during Monday's event.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who did not attend the funeral, has rejected allegations of glorifying Mladic and insisted that the service was organized by the family, not the state.

But the attendance of ministers, alongside the use of soldiers and a government plane to bring Mladic's body to Belgrade has sparked outrage.

"If this is not state involvement, what is?" Emir Suljagic, the director of the Srebrenica memorial center, said on X.

Mladic was sentenced for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Bosnia's 1990s war -- including his role in the killing of some 8,000 people in Srebrenica.

Suljagic said the statements from Brussels were not enough.

"We have had enough of people paying lip service to the victims while proceeding to shake hands with politicians dreaming of future genocides," he said.

World

UK Publishes Legislation for Tougher Sanctions on Iran

People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
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UK Publishes Legislation for Tougher Sanctions on Iran

People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)
People walk along a market street in Tehran on September 7, 2026. (AFP)

Britain on Tuesday published legislation to introduce tougher sanctions on Iran, expanding trade restrictions and powers to target ships ‌as part ‌of what it described ‌as ⁠wider effort to ⁠curb Tehran's nuclear program and other hostile activities.

The government said the measures would restrict Iran's access to the British financial ⁠system, expand trade ‌bans to additional ‌goods, technology and services, ‌and prohibit Iranian aircraft from ‌landing in Britain unless exemptions apply.

Stephen Doughty, a foreign office minister, said in ‌a written statement that the legislation "doubles down on our action ⁠to ⁠constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions" and would help ensure Iran was never able to acquire a nuclear weapon.

Iran's embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

World

Nicaragua Maintains German Arms Exports to Israel Violate International Law

Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
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Nicaragua Maintains German Arms Exports to Israel Violate International Law

Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)
Carlos Jose Arguello Gomez, agent for Nicaragua, listens during public hearings on the preliminary objections raised by Germany in the case brought by Nicaragua, at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Sept. 7, 2026. (AP)

Nicaragua told the International ‌Court of Justice on Tuesday that Germany's arms exports to Israel violates the 1948 Genocide Convention and humanitarian law and urged the court to allow its case against Berlin to continue.

Germany suspended weapons exports to Israel for a few months in 2025, but they have since resumed. It is Israel's second biggest weapons supplier after the US and has long been one of its staunchest supporters, principally because of historical guilt for the Nazi Holocaust.

A US-backed ceasefire since October 2025 halted large-scale fighting that had devastated Gaza ‌but has not ‌ended Israeli strikes.

Speaking on behalf of Nicaragua, Ambassador ‌Carlos ⁠Jose Arguello Gomez said ⁠Berlin should have been aware there was a "serious risk that acts that could amount to genocide were being committed by Israel" and should have used all reasonable measures to prevent genocide according to the Genocide Convention.

Nicaragua and Germany are both signatories of the Genocide Convention which includes an obligation on states to act ⁠to prevent possible genocide - but it is unusual ‌for the court to hear cases where ‌neither party is directly involved in the conflict at the heart ‌of it.

Israel rejects genocide allegations as politically motivated and ‌says its military campaign has targeted the Hamas group, whose attack on Israel triggered the war in October 2023.

On Monday, Germany asked the ICJ, also known as the World Court, to throw out ‌the case because they argued the court lacked jurisdiction on various procedural grounds.

Nicaragua on Tuesday dismissed ⁠Berlin's arguments ⁠that it was unclear that a dispute existed when the case was filed, pointing to communication with the foreign ministry and press statements.

Nicaragua's case builds on the one South Africa brought against Israel for alleged genocide. In an interim ruling in 2024, the ICJ said it was plausible Israel violated some rights guaranteed under the Genocide Convention during its assault on Gaza. However, that case is not expected to be heard in full until late 2029.

A ruling on Germany's objection to jurisdiction is expected later this year. Even if the case can continue, it is expected to take years before a final ruling on the merits.