Iran urges world Muslim 'resistance' against Israel

Wherein Mahmud Abbas says shut yer yap and asks that everyone (except Shrillary of course)stop interfering in their affairs. You think he or Tehran would consider a ten kiloton airborne present interfering?

h/t LGF

Iran urges world Muslim 'resistance' against Israel

by Jay Deshmukh Jay Deshmukh Wed Mar 4, 11:31 am ET

TEHRAN (AFP) – Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged world Muslims on Wednesday to join the Palestinian "resistance" against Israel, but his call was dismissed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

"The only way to save Palestine is resistance," Khamenei said in an address to a global summit organised by Tehran in aid of the war-battered Gaza Strip and the Palestinians.

"Support and help to Palestinians is a mandatory duty of all Muslims. I now tell all Muslim brothers and sisters to join forces and break the immunity of the Zionist criminals."

Iran's top military commander Mohammad Ali Jafari also declared that the Islamic republic has long-range missiles that can reach Israeli nuclear sites.

"Today the Islamic republic has missiles with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and... all the land of the Zionist regime, including its nuclear installations, is within our range," Jafari, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the ISNA news agency.

He said the Islamic republic could "firmly retaliate" if it was attacked by Israel, which considers Iran its biggest threat.

Khamenei said any negotiations to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict were fruitless, adding that the United States and Britain committed the "crime of creation and supporting this cancerous tumour (Israel)."

"Even the new president of the United States who came to power with the motto of changing the (George W.) Bush administration's policies talks about unconditional commitment to secure Israel. This is defending terrorism by a government."

But Khamenei's call was bluntly dismissed by Abbas after he met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on her visit to the region since taking office.

"We are sending a message to the Iranians and others -- stop interfering in our affairs," Abbas said. "They are interfering only to deepen the rift between Palestinians."

Musa Abu Marzuk and Abu Zahar from the Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza and who attended the Tehran summit acknowledged the role Iran played in tackling the Middle East problem.

Zahar openly said Iran and other countries have been offering aid to Palestinians, which included "paying salaries of our employees since we came to power in 2006."

Iran does not recognise Israel, and Khamenei has repeatedly rejected a two-state solution to solve the decades-old conflict.

Shiite Iran's efforts to tackle the issue have received sceptical response from much of the Muslim world, especially from the neighbouring Sunni-ruled Arab states which are also wary of Tehran's nuclear programme.

On Tuesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal called for a joint Arab strategy to deal with the "Iranian challenge" at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

In his address at the Tehran summit, Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the creation of a "global anti-Zionist front."

"On the other hand we must seriously pursue punishing the Zionist criminals, so that by saving Palestine and the establishment of a popularly chosen government, the world gets rid of racism, lies and occupation forever."

Prominent lawmaker Khazem Jalili said the Tehran conference will suggest setting up a common fund of participating nations to channel the donations.

But "unfortunately, the route for delivering the aid is not open," he said referring to the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

The summit, attended by officials from such neighbours as Kuwait and Bahrain, as well South Africa and Nigeria, comes two days after global donors meeting in Egypt pledged around 4.5 billion dollars to rebuild Gaza.