Brussels, 24/08/2012 (Agence Europe) - Ramin Mehmanparast, the spokesperson for the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, criticised on Thursday 23 August the EU's support for the Israeli government. He condemned the statement of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton on 18 August, which criticised the statements of the Iranian president and supreme leader that described Israel as a “cancerous tumour”.
Mehmanparast accused Israel of a “flagrant breach of human rights, oppression and crimes” against the Palestinians over the last 60 years. “The Zionist regime [of Israel] and its Western supporters need to be held accountable by the international community for their behaviour”, he said, calling on international organisations and countries to break their silence on the Israeli “atrocities” (our translation). The spokesperson also reaffirmed Iran's support for the right of Palestinians to choose their own destiny and to establish a Palestinian State.
On Saturday, Ashton described the remarks of the supreme leader and president of the Islamic Republic as “outrageous and hateful” and said that Israel's right to exist must not be called into question. (CG/transl.fl)