Mottaki asserts misinterpretation of his speech regarding the Palestinians

Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki denied some western news agencies claims on his speech in the World Economic Forum about Israel.

He told IRNA, "I said to the meeting every pupil knows that a nation like Palestinians cannot be eliminated from the map." Some western news agencies quoted Mottaki on Saturday saying that every pupil knows it is impossible to eliminate any country from the map, which was presented by some news agencies as meaning that Israel cannot be eliminated from the map, a statement that would have been in conflict with supposed statements by Iran's president about Israel's need to be removed from the map.

He added, "Although Shah had good relations with South African apartheid regime and the Zionist regime, after the Islamic revolution victory, the ties were severed." "After the collapse of the apartheid regime in South Africa, now we have very good ties with that country," Mottaki said.

He stressed, "We cast a negative vote on the Zionist regime credential in the UN, which means we do not recognize the regime." The 3-day forum started on Friday afternoon in the resort city of Bahr ul Meyet in Jordan and Iran's delegation headed by foreign minister Mottaki attended the meeting.

Iranian delegation departed Amman for Tehran on Saturday evening.