Panelists review Palestinian developments

A group of senior Iranian activists in the Palestinian issue have reviewed the latest Palestinian developments in a panel discussion in Tehran also attended by Palestinian students residing in Tehran.

The panel discussion, titled 'yesterday Iran, today Palestine' focused on the PA-Israel talks, Israeli settlement expansion and Israeli future under the impact of the Islamic awakening movement across the world of Islam.

The panelists were head of the Committee in Support of the Islamic Revolution of the Palestinian People, Hojjatol-Islam Hassan Akhtari, aide to the Iranian parliament speaker in international affairs, Hussein sheikhol-Islam, Palestinian ambassador to Tehran, Salah Zavavi as well as representatives of the Palestinian resistance movements, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Tehran.

Akhtari said the panel discussion aims to hear from the Palestinian students on the Palestinian issue and the struggle against the Zionist regime of Israel.

For his part, Sheikhol-Islam said Iran considers it a religious belief to defend the Palestinian nation.

The senior activist said Iranian Alims have long supported the Palestinian issue, even since before the Islamic revolution. "Muslim nations would not get their dignity as long as Palestine is not freed," he said.

And, the Palestinian ambassador said the primary goal of the students must be to strive for the liberation of the holy Quds and ending of the occupation.

The ambassador touched on the western efforts for the overthrow of the Islamic republic in the past 35 years, adding that having failed to oust the Islamic system the western governments have turned to Syria.

The ambassador noted that Syria has been alongside the Palestinian nation since one hundred years ago. "Syria must be supported now as a link in the chain of resistance," he said.