Iran's supreme leader calls Annapolis conference a failure

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday called the Annapolis conference a failure on Monday, claiming it was meant to salvage America's reputation in the region rather than realize the rights of Palestinians, state television reported. "Today, all politicians know in advance that this conference has already failed," Khamenei said in a speech broadcast by state TV. "The US and its accomplices hope to preserve their reputation with this conference and compensate for past failures of the fake Zionist (Israeli) regime." Khamenei's comments came on the heels of a telephone call late Sunday between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah in which the Iranian president expressed disappointment at Saudi participation in the parley. "I wish the name of Saudi Arabia was not among the participants at the Annapolis conference," the official news agency IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.