Khamenei says Iran wants removal of Israel state not people

Tehran, Nov 15 (AFP/APP): Iran’s supreme leader said Friday that calls for the abolition of Israel which have sparked outrage in the West, target the “imposed state” not the Jewish people.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the future of the land should be decided by Palestinians of all faiths, Jewish as well as Christian and Muslim.

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“The ‘abolition of the Israeli regime’ does not mean the abolition of Jewish people; we have no problem with them,” Khamenei told a meeting of Islamic countries in Tehran, according to his official website.

It means “abolition of the imposed regime and state, that the Palestinian people, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish… choose their own government and oust thugs like (Benjamin) Netanyahu,” he added, referring to Israel’s prime minister.

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The Iranian government does not recognise Israel, referring to it as the “Zionist regime”, and support for the Palestinian cause has been a constant feature of its foreign policy since the Islamic revolution of 1979.