Referendum: Iran against division of Palestine

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Sunday said his country rejects the separation of Palestine and calls for a free referendum for the Palestinian people to determine their own fate."The issue of recognizing Palestine as an independent state could be on the schedule of the next UN General Assembly meeting, but Palestine cannot be left to split into two parts as many believe," Salehi told reporters on the fringes of an international Islamic conference being held in Tehran. He said, "our official position is that Palestine is the property of all Palestinians and we will not, under any circumstances, agree to its division." "We will never recognize the Zionist Entity and this is our solemn position ever since the success of the Islamic Revolution." The Palestinian Authority, headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, intends to head to the UN to gain international recognition of Palestinian statehood according to 1967 borders, which include the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.