Ayatollah Khamenei: Regional problems solvable through dialogue free from foreign interference

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says dialogue among regional countries is the best solution to the existing problems in the region, warning against foreign interference.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks in a Thursday meeting with the visiting Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, during which the Leader called for increased political and economic cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, the Leader emphasized that regional problems can be solved through dialogue among regional countries without any interference of “foreign factors.”

“The issues of Yemen and Syria can be also solved through dialogue. Of course, dialogue should not be undertaken from a weak position at a time that the opposite parties, mostly the United States and others, rely on military and financial power,” the Leader said.

Ayatollah Khamenei stressed that management of the region does not need any meddling by foreign parties, adding, “Wherever Zionists go, they foment corruption and can give no power or concession to [regional] countries.”

“Therefore, we, as regional countries, must boost our relations as much as we can through common thinking and cooperation,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

Confirming the Qatari Emir’s remarks in which he condemned the crimes committed by the Zionist regime, the Leader described decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people by “evil Zionists” as a bitter reality and a blow to the Islamic world and the Arab world.

“In the face of these crimes, the Islamic Republic of Iran expects the Arab world to take explicit political action,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

Referring to Israeli forces' attacks on the restive Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of the occupied Palestinian city of al-Quds, Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The support offered by some Arab countries to Palestinian people in that case did not even match up to [the support offered by] some European [countries] and they took no [decisive] position. Even now, they are still acting like that.”

“If this approach taken by Arab countries is out of fear of the Zionist regime or having hopes in it, they must know that today, the occupying regime is in conditions that nobody can have hopes in or be afraid of it,” the Leader said.

The Qatari Emir, for his part, said the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Palestine are horrible and must be confronted by all regional countries.

Expressing regret over the Israeli killing of a Palestinian journalist on Wednesday, he said, “Zionists  committed this crime in cold blood.”

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