TEHRAN Hamas officials Abu Mohammed Mostafa and Adil Samani were invited to lunch by the TEHRAN TIMES Managing Director Abbas Salimi Namin on Monday. During the interview Mostafa touched on a wide range of topics regarding the Intifada of the Palestinian people. The following is an excerpt from the interview. The complete text of the interview will be published tomorrow.

During the interview, the Hamas representative in Iran, Abu Mohammed Mostafa, vowed that the Intifada, or general uprising, of Palestinians against the Zionist occupiers of their homeland would continue until final victory, adding that no one can stop the liberation movement of Palestine.

The uprising of Palestinians against occupiers of their homeland began in last September.

"The occupation and daily killings of Palestinian men, women and children stir the oppressed Palestinians to uprising against the Zionists," he further said.

Mostafa recalled several peace accords signed by Egypt, Jordan and also the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, with the Zionist entity. He said, "These peace agreements with Israel have proven to be a failure. This lends further credit to the stance taken by the founder of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, who has always opposed peace talks with the Zionist regime."

In response to a question, Mostafa stressed that there are several plots being hatched against the ongoing uprising in the occupied lands. "Besides Israel and the United States, certain Arab countries and even some in the PLO want to stop the uprising, arguing that the negotiating table should be used to settle the current crisis," he noted, adding, "Such people simply ignore the real nature of the Zionists, who are trying to strengthen their hold on the occupied territories and who will never do justice to the Palestinians."

Referring to the remarks made by a Zionist minister, the Hamas leader said that he recently threatened to destroy the Aswan Dam on the Nile River in Egypt.

"This remark indicates that the Zionist minister has no respect for the Camp David agreement signed between Israel and Egypt two decades ago," Mostafa said.

Pointing to the criminal record of Zionist regime's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, especially his involvement in the 1982 massacre of Palestinians at Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, Mostafa called on the PLO and Arab countries to refrain from negotiating with this war criminal. As regards some the Zionist claim of Iran having a missile base in Lebanon, he denied the claim, saying, "Iran has no missile base in Lebanon. It only gives moral and political support to the Palestinians and Lebanese struggling to end the Zionist occupation of their homeland."