October 16, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 9, 1423

TEHRAN, Oct 15: Iran will not obstruct a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict if that is what both parties want, its Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

“We believe in a one-state solution,” Hamid Reza Asefi told Reuters in an interview. “But if they want a two-state solution, the Israelis and Palestinians, we are not going to hamper that.”

Iran bitterly criticised the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1988 when it formally accepted the idea of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would co-exist with the state of Israel within its 1948 borders.

The destruction of the Jewish state has been an article of faith for Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.—Reuters