Minutes of Conversation between Nicolae Ceaușescu and Abbas Massoudi, Vice-President of the Majlis, Bucharest

Minutes of conversation between Nicolae Ceaușescu and Abbas Massoudi, Vice-President of the Majlis, Bucharest, 10 April 1972

The Iranian Senator then asked the President of the State Council to give his judgment regarding the possibilities available to solve the conflict in the Near East, in light of the conversations he had on the occasion of his secret visit to Cairo.

The President of the State Council pointed out that from his conversations with President Sadat, he gathered that Egypt wants to reach a political solution to the Near East conflict, in the spirit of the November 1967 Security Council resolution. Egypt is ready to sign a treaty whose general and mutually acceptable arrangements would recognize the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states in the region, including Israel. Egypt cannot accept, rightly, that a part of its territory remains under foreign occupation. Through this lens, the Egyptian government has made certain concrete proposals, but Israel did not welcome them. Prolonging the current state of affairs is neither in the interest of Arab countries involved in the conflict, nor in Israel’s interest. For this reason, we believe that Egypt’s constructive proposals should benefit from a more decisive support on the international stage and that, at the same time, all means available should be used to persuade Israel to give up its intransigent position, which is not conducive to a political solution for this conflict, the only solution which can grant Israel real security.

Of course, any long-term solution for the Near East conflict must include a solution for the Palestinian population, according to its aspirations to live its own national life.

As far as Romania is concerned, it has always been in favor of finding a political solution for this conflict, and proved willing to help, to the best of its abilities, improve the situation in a region which is not too far from its borders.

A. Massoudi pointed out that on the Near East issue, Iran’s position is similar to Romania’s position. Currently, Iran’s relations with Egypt are good. The Iranian government supports the reasonable approach of the Egyptian leaders, their proposals to find a peaceful resolution to [this] conflict, and these proposals are worthy of being given the right attention, since they come from a country which has the biggest share [of participation] in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Unfortunately, Israel maintains a rigid position, trying to gain [certain] advantages from its current superior military position. This position is a totally wrong one, especially if [one] thinks of the future: for this reason, it is indeed necessary that in its contacts with the Israeli representatives to point out that it is not in the interest of their country to keep going down this path. Iran will do everything in its powers to make steps in the direction of achieving peace in a region it is a part of and it is ready to cooperate with Romania and other friendly countries in this direction.

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