Referendum key to resolving issue of Palestine occupation: Iran FM

NEW YORK: Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that holding a referendum in Palestine will help end the Zionist regime's occupation and resolve the long-running dispute in West Asia.

Amirabdollahian made the comment on Saturday at a Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) foreign ministers meeting, which was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported he said that the Palestinian people, in the wake of silence by the international community, are facing more than ever inhumane conditions caused by the Israeli occupation and the regime's aggression and expansionism.

The top Iranian diplomat blamed the apartheid Zionist regime for increasingly violating the basic rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to live and work.

He also criticised the regime for expanding its settlements on occupied Palestinian land, saying that the Palestinians are incarcerated and forced to migrate, while their lands are confiscated and their farmland are destroyed.

He also called on the Non-Aligned Movement to use its diplomatic capacities to help stop the inhumane measures and crimes by the occupying Israeli regime against the Palestinian people, according to IRNA.

Amirabdollahian explained that Iran, back in November 1, 2019, had presented its own initiative to the United Nations, which called for a national referendum in Palestine.

He said Iran believes that the democratic solution will help resolve the issue of the occupation and the long-running dispute in the West Asia region, and that the real residents of Palestine, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, can decide their fate and determine their government.

-- BERNAMA