Proposed Solutions to the Palestinian Issue: A Comparative Study of the Role of Iran and International Organizations

Palestine has interwoven with Islamic civilization. It is the most important issue of the world of Islam and it belongs to Muslims. The impact of Palestine on the world of Islam and concepts like unity and resistance manifests its significance. The issue of Palestine and supporting it result in a new cultural, social, and political alignment in the Islamic region. This issue has attracted the attention of the world from the beginning. Regarding the issue of Palestine and the formation of the illegitimate Israeli regime, Iran has undergone two different periods: before the Islamic revolution and after the Islamic revolution. By studying the influence of Iran and the United Nations on offering solutions for Palestine, we can see the role and position of each of them in this regard.
The United Nations has proposed a solution to the Palestinian issue by partitioning Palestine into two separate Hebrew and Palestinian states and the city of Jerusalem as an international region. Although continuous conflicts and uprisings show the failure of this solution, namely Resolution 181, the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that the solution to this problem can only be found by the Palestinian people through a referendum.
The referendum solution has been personally proposed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and has been repeatedly emphasized in international meetings. Successive governments in the Islamic Republic, based on the role and importance of the Palestinian cause, have consistently supported the Palestinian cause in foreign policy, and this support has been constant with the change of the presidents of the Islamic Republic. The general opinion is that the only solution offered by Iran is resistance, while proposing a fundamental solution is something else. But what the Iranian proposal has been like so far and what steps it has taken and should follow in the future occupy the authors’ minds.
The main question that the authors raise is that, despite the obvious support for the Palestinian cause, how has the main solution, the “referendum”, been taken into consideration in the United Nations by Islamic Republic administrations? In addition to this question, there are other sub-questions: What was the solution of the Pahlavi government before the Islamic Revolution? What is the difference between the solution offered by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the one offered by the United Nations? In these circumstances, what actions has the country’s diplomatic body taken and what tasks should it pursue?
The significance of this study is to understand the general rules governing the settlement of the Palestinian issue. Considering the role of various players from governments to international organizations, movements, and groups, the current study particularly concentrates on how the country’s diplomatic body interacts with international institutions about Palestine.
In addition to the above understanding, besides considering the current position of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is necessary to carefully pursue future actions and interactions with international organizations, especially the United Nations regarding Palestine. In other words, enhancing the strengths and reducing the weaknesses in the future is another necessity.
The authors have used a descriptive-analytical method intending to know more and to explain the epistemological view towards the situation of the Iranian referendum plan. In this method, by emphasizing the applied historical approach using the data and documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran, an inferential conclusion is reached to be used for the present and the future.
From the point of view of innovation in the subject, two points can be mentioned: First, everyone knows that the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on Palestine is to support the resistance front and it has a great share in it, but when it comes to providing a solution, it is thought that Iran’s only solution has been resistance, while the main and fundamental solution of Iran is something else and resistance is one of the next priorities. Second, the solution proposed by Iran that prioritizes resistance has not been seriously studied in Arab research, and to highlight this issue, the present article notes the importance of a fundamental solution.
The results show that the basic solution proposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran is to emphasize a referendum which includes the indigenous people of Palestine (whether they live in Palestine or not) with all ethnicities and (religious) tendencies, including Muslim, Christian, and Jewish. Iran believes that the Palestinian issue will not be resolved without considering people’s right to self-determination and holding a referendum. But regarding implementation, the referendum plan has not been put into action by international organizations so far, and due to the non-implementation of the referendum plan, it has become impossible to evaluate it descriptively. On the other hand, considering the existing issues and records up to now, the administration, on behalf of the government, has not pursued the referendum plan as a continuous demand in recent years, except for its registration in the United Nations while this action is not sufficient. What is certain is that the presentation of the “referendum” solution was designed and proposed by the Supreme Leader himself, and contrary to popular belief, this solution is a fundamental one for Palestine and takes precedence over the resistance.
One of the suggestions of the present article, considering the results, is to confirm and continue the resistance until a referendum is held. On the other hand, the government and the diplomatic body must always follow the idea of the referendum in international organizations and have a plan for it. Compared to Iran’s plan, the United Nations’ partition plan has not considered the opinion of the Palestinian people. However, Iran’s solution considers people’s right to self-determination, which has a legal nature and should be followed in international organizations.