A senior Iranian security official says recent allegations about negotiations between Iran and Israel are totally ‘baseless’ and aimed at undermining the resistance front in its confrontation with Israel.
“The start and spread of such baseless rumors, which are increasing in number, represent a futile effort to give legitimacy to the Zionist regime and weaken the resistance front’s will in its confrontation with Israel,” Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said on Sunday.
Elaph, a Saudi-owned website, claimed in an unconfirmed report late last month that Iran and Israel had engaged in indirect negotiations in Jordan regarding fighting in southwestern Syria.
Elaph sources also claimed that “the talks with the Israelis were related to fighting in Syria and the nearing campaign in southern Syria, particularly in Dara'a and Quneitra.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi dismissed the reports about the Islamic Republic holding “indirect negotiations” with the Israeli regime over the Syrian conflict, saying such claims are aimed at distracting public opinion from Israeli atrocities.
“This claim is basically wrong and news fabrication,” Qassemi said.
Shamkhani further pointed to the escalation of the Israeli regime's violence against the oppressed Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and said, “This method in recent days, is a passive measure in the face of a defeated plan [aimed] at using Takfiri terrorists in order to create conflict in the Muslim world and to destroy Muslim countries' resources.”
Tensions have been running high along the Gaza fence since March 30, which marked the start of a series of protests, dubbed “The Great March of Return,” demanding the right to return for those driven out of their homeland.
The Gaza clashes reached their peak on May 14, the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Nakba Day (the Day of Catastrophe), which coincided this year with the US embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem al-Quds.
At least 65 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 others wounded as the Israeli forces used snipers, airstrikes, tank fire and tear gas to target the Gaza demonstrators on May 14.
Israel conducts regular air raids on Palestinians in Gaza under the pretext of hitting Hamas targets. The Gaza Strip has also been under an inhumane Israeli siege since 2007.
The SNSC secretary also pointed to a “humiliating” event for the US during a recent United Nations Security Council meeting and said, “The US-proposed draft resolution, which introduced [the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement] Hamas as the reason behind the ongoing incidents in the occupied territories, failed to secure even one yes vote of the Security Council's members.”
Shamkhani emphasized that the differences between Washington and its traditional partners indicate that US President Donald Trump's unwise policies have led to the country's political isolation.
The United States on Friday vetoed a Kuwait-drafted UN resolution calling for the protection of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Out of the 15 UN Security Council members, Russia, France and China along with seven others voted in favor of the resolution, while four including Britain abstained.
The draft called for “the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the Gaza Strip.”
During a second vote, the US was the only country to vote in favor of a revised draft-resolution it submitted subsequent to the Kuwait-sponsored initiative. It saw 11 countries abstaining and three opposing it.
The occupied territories have witnessed new tensions ever since President Trump on December 6, 2017 announced Washington's recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” and said the US would move its embassy to the city.
The dramatic decision triggered demonstrations in the occupied Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the world.
The status of Jerusalem al-Quds is the thorniest issue in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Palestinians see East Jerusalem al-Quds as the capital of their future state.