TEHRAN (FNA)- The Zionist media fabricated the remarks made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in response to the question of a German TV host about the recognition of Israel.The Israeli media claimed that Zarif had stated in his Monday interview with the German Phoenix TVthat recognition or non-recognition of Israel as a state is up to the Palestinians and not Iran, and that the Islamic Republic may consider recognizing Israel after a peace accord is struck with the Palestinians.
After the problem with the Palestinians is resolved, the conditions that will enable recognition of the State of Israel will be established, Zarif was misquoted by the Times of Israel which later corrected the news (without any apology or notification) after its readers left some comments criticizing the paper for its fabricated report.
Zarif himself also rushed to deny the report through one of his deputies, stressing that he had never made such statements.
In a phone conversation that I had with Mr. Zarif he completely rejected the remarks attributed to him and declared that the Islamic Republics stance about the (Zionist) regime is what has been repeatedly announced by the countrys diplomacy apparatus and this stance has not changed, Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi told FNA after the Israeli media misquoted Zarifs remarks.
The fabricated parts of the report did not go unnoticed by the readers of the Times of Israel either. A reader wrote to the editor in the Comments on This Article part, I cannot confirm the phrase 'After the problem with the Palestinians is resolved, the conditions that will enable recognition of the State of Israel will be established'. The interview is dubbed in German and there this statement is not at all that clear. Did Times of Israel editors check the actual words of Zarif in English? I guess this interview is meant, see around minute 25.
http://www.phoenix.de/content/phoenix/die_sendungen/diskussionen/802368
Below you may find a precise transcript of Zarif's remarks in the interview:Phoenix question: Would it be then fair to say or would you agree that if the Palestinian question can be solved between Israel and the Palestinians, would then Iran be willing to recognize the state of Israel?
Zarif: You see, thats a sovereign decision that Iran would make but it will have no consequence on the situation on the ground in the Middle-East. If the Palestinians are happy with the solution then nobody, nobody outside Palestine could prevent that from taking place. The problem for the past 60 years is that the Palestinians have not been happy. The Palestinians have not been satisfied and they have every right not to be satisfied because their most basic rights continue to be violated and people are not ready to address those rights.
By Fars News Agency
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