Abbas and Ahmadinejad met in Tehran on Thursday for what Erekat described as “frank and productive” talks.
The president told Ahmadinejad that the Palestinian diplomatic quest was to establish a state on 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, based on international law, Erekat told Ma’an.
The president said that mission had been approved by both the Arab Peace Initiative and the foreign affairs summit in Tehran in 2003.
Meanwhile Ahmadinejad called on Abbas to implement Palestinian reconciliation between his Fatah party and Hamas immediately. Abbas reassured the Iranian leader that national unity was his “top priority,” Erekat said.
Iran’s support for Abbas’ rivals Hamas deepened a rift between Tehran and Abbas, who leads the PLO. Relations between the PLO and Iran have been tense since late PLO leader Yasser Arafat supported Iraq in its war against Iran in the 1980s. When Arafat signed the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993, Iran froze all support to the PLO and accused it of treason.
Abbas is in Tehran to attend a summit of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement. The president had threatened to pull out after Hamas Prime Minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniyeh announced he had also received an invitation to the summit.
Haniyeh later pulled out of the trip, citing a desire not to damage reconciliation efforts. Sources told Ma’an that the debacle started when Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei invited Haniyeh, while Abbas was invited officially by Ahmadinejad.
According to Erekat, Abbas reassured Ahmadinejad that neither the PLO nor the Palestinian Authority objected to Iran or any other country inviting Hamas leaders to visit.
However, the president said that inviting Haniyeh to the Non-Aligned Movement summit without consulting the PLO was considered a snub to the legitimacy of the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
Ahmadinejad denied inviting Haniyeh to attend the NAM summit, Erekat said.
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