Iran's Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asqar Soltaniyeh condemned the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories by the Zionists.

He made the remarks at the preliminary meeting of the Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (MENWFZ) Conference in Moscow. Finland will host the 2012 conference to start talks on proposed nuclear weapons free Middle East.

During the meeting, Soltaniyeh criticized the continued occupation of the Palestinian territories by the occupying force of the racist Zionist regime.

Palestine has growingly been the main source of concern for the Muslim world all throughout the last 60 years, but after Islamic uprisings in a number of the regional countries, the Middle-East nations are now paying more and more attention to the issue of Palestine as Israel is being increasingly pushed into isolation due to the ascending to power of popular governments in the regional states.

Iran has repeatedly warned the western backers of the Zionist regime that they have long been paying a heavy price for their support for the Israeli regime, cautioning that they will be better off if they give up their blind support for the criminal regime, given the spread of Islamic and human awakening and the resultant protests throughout the globe.

In his keynote address to the 16th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran late in August, Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei called on the American backers of the Israeli regime to accept Iran's proposal for a referendum in the Palestinian lands to determine the country's fate.

The Leader reminded the Zionists' bloody occupation of Palestine over 6 decades ago, and blamed the Zionist regime for waging various wars, massacre and state-sponsored terrorism in the last decades.

He blamed the western world for supporting and defending the Zionist regime of Israel against the oppressed Palestinian nation.

The leader further renewed Iran's solution to the Palestinian issue, calling for a "comprehensive referendum to be attended by all the indigenous residents of Palestine, including those refugees who have been away from their motherland for decades to determine the country's fate".

The Iranian supreme leader cautioned the US against the continued support and defense for the Zionist regime of Israel, reminding that decade-long support for the Israeli regime has incurred many costs and losses on the American people.

The leader called on the White House leaders to revise their Middle-East policy and "show courage and opt for the referendum solution" presented by Iran to put an end to the astronomical spending that has been inflicted on the American nation for its support for the Zionist regime of Israel.
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News ID 182950