Ahmadinejad: 'Palestine will one day be liberated'

Iranian president to US university students: US should "stop supporting the Zionist regime," dialogue with Israel won't solve problems.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he believes "Palestine will one day be liberated," saying the Iranian government believes it is the Palestinians' right to establish a state, speaking with university students in New York on Wednesday.
It would be better for the United States, he added, to "stop supporting the Zionist regime," the official Iranian IRNA news agency reported.
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Entering dialogue with Israel, Ahmadinejad added, would not solve the Palestinians's problems. He was referring to US President Barack Obama's speech at the United Nations Wednesday, in which he said that only negotiations could lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Israel itself, he claimed, was established "in a bid to extend dominance over the Middle East."
Addressing the Arab Spring and changes taking place throughout the Middle East, the Iranian president told students and teaching staff of several universities that recent events are a response to US hegemonic policies.
Middle Eastern nations, he said, are fed up with the "bullying" policies of the West.
Several days earlier, in an interview with American journalist Charlie Rose, Ahmadinejad also addressed the American hikers who were subsequently released from Iranian prison.
Asked about the case, Ahmadinejad said that he "would like to see all prisoners released," especially political prisoners.
Questioned whether that statement applies to political prisoners in Iran, he denied that the Islamic Republic has any political prisoners, saying the state's law doesn't allow for it.
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