Pro-Palestinian society SG terms Qods conference as successful

Mojtaba Rahmandoust, Secretary General of the Iran-based Society in Defense of the Palestinian Nation assessed as favorable the results of the international conference on Qods held last month in Istanbul.

Interviewed by Qodsna, Rahmandoust denounced the Turkish government move to bid welcome to Zionist head Shimon Peres simultaneous with the conference, adding that the government adopted the move to say it had invited both sides of the conflict.

"The issue left the participants of the conference in rage and made them to pursue their goals more decisively," Rahmandoust added.

The Secretary General said the Turkish government also placed some constraints on the conference to secure its ties with the Zionist regime.

"However the presence of Peres prompted the attendants to express their views more vigorously," he added.

The senior activist on the Palestinian issue was critical that the final statement of the conference failed to condemn the US-organized Annapolis conference, however he described the statement as largely in line with the IRI's foreign policy regarding the question of Palestine.

Asked whether any initiative was made by the Iranian delegation in the conference, Rahmandoust pointed to an effort to gather signatures on a petition in which the Palestinian demands were pointed out and which received a warm welcome from the participants.