AFP: Iran will never recognise Israel even if there is a peace deal with the Palestinians and they have their own state, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday. “Even if you envisage this impossible hypothesis, (and) to recognise a state is part of Iran’s diplomatic right, in absolutely no case will Iran recognise the Zionist regime,” he told journalists. AFP
TEHRAN – Iran will never recognise Israel even if there is a peace deal with the Palestinians and they have their own state, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said on Sunday.
“Even if you envisage this impossible hypothesis, (and) to recognise a state is part of Iran’s diplomatic right, in absolutely no case will Iran recognise the Zionist regime,” he told journalists.
Reports that Israeli President Moshe Katsav had shaken hands with and spoken to his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami at the funeral for Pope Jean Paul II caused a furore.
The Israeli leader played down the alleged encounter as pure civilities while Khatami denied it ever happened.
Asefi refused any comment on this, saying it was “not worth the trouble of replying to it”.
