Peres: Iran is greatest threat to Mideast peace

JPost -- Speaking alongside PA prime minister Fayyad at Davos World Economic Forum, president says he believes we're "closer than we think" to reaching peace with Palestinians.

Iran is the greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East, President Shimon Peres said Thursday at the Davos World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Describing Hezbollah and Hamas as Iran's two agents in the region, Peres said Iran has turned the Gaza Strip into a base for launching missiles at Israel.

The president added that the international community should encourage the Iranian people to overthrow the regime in Tehran.

Speaking in a panel alongside Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, the president said he believes "we are closer than we think" to reaching peace with the Palestinians.

Noting that it took Europe hundreds of years to end war and conflict on the continent, Peres admitted "it is more complicated than most of us would like." Nonetheless, "I do not think we have to wait 100 years. I do not think we have to wait 20 years. We are closer than we think."

Responding to Peres, Fayyad called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to define how he envisions a future Palestinians state. Some 18 years after the Oslo Accords, "it is about time to know what [Netanyahu] means when he speaks of the two-state solution," he said.

On a macro level, Fayyad added, the Palestinians are "looking for an independent, viable state on the territory occupied in 1967."

On a micro level, he said, he would like to see Israel "allow the Palestinian society and people to work, develop and live in that area where the state of Palestine is going to emerge," putting emphasis on restrictions placed in Area C.