Iranian lawmakers intend to question the country's foreign minister over remarks he made about recognizing Israel in the event of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, the semi-official Iranian news agency Mehr reported on Tuesday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told German television on Monday that the Islamic Republic would not rule out recognizing Israel "once the Palestinian problem is solved," i24 News reported.
"We have to put on the table a solution that will be acceptable by the Palestinians but until now we have not seen such a proposal," Zarif was quoted as saying.
"Crimes have been committed against the Palestinian people and we just cannot [recognize Israel] until they will be recognize. Only then it will be possible to discuss other solutions," he added.
Iranian lawmaker Ghasem Jafari told Mehr that Zarif's remarks were "inconsistent with the principles upheld by the system" and that he was not authorized to voice an opinion on the "Zionist regime."
"Imam Khomeini believed that the Zionist regime was a malign tumor and the [Supreme] Leader believed it as ‘bastard,’” Jafari said, according to Mehr, adding that “the Islamic Republic has expended great sums so that the Zionist regime would not be recognized.”
Haaretz
