Iran hails palestinian membership in UNESCO

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday welcomed the Palestinian admission to UNESCO and criticized the United States' reaction to cease payments to the international organization over the decision."The membership of Palestine is a symbolic act that (proves) global support for Palestinian rights," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said at his weekly press conference here on Tuesday. Turning to Washington's decision to suspend payments to UNESCO in retaliation, Mehman-Parast advised the US government to not jeopardize its "honor" by opposing the rights of other nations. "The United States must know its blind support of the Zionist regime (Israel) has no place in world public opinion," he said. The Palestinian bid for UNESCO membership, which comes as the Palestinians also seek to become a United Nations member state, was approved Monday in Paris despite strong opposition from the United States and Israel. The vote will cost the organization its US funding, which makes up 22 percent of its budget, because US laws from the 1990s require Washington to cut funds to any UN organization that admits Palestine as a full member.