TEHRAN - Speaking at the opening ceremony of the IRIB Overseas Agencies News Directors Forum on Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, the Leader's advisor on international affairs, said, "Twenty-three years since the victory of the revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran's 'No to the East, No to the West' policy, as one of the foundations of Iranian foreign policy, is still justified." He criticized those who believe that an independent foreign policy is a thing of the past, saying, "Independence in foreign policy has meaning when compared with political lack of determination." Referring to Iran's policy on the Palestinian issue, Velayati said, "When the Late Imam said Israel must be annihilated, it was against Arab politicians' policy, but, after one decade and the failure of the peace process, and the participation of all Palestinian groups in the Intifada, the Arab countries, too, were convinced that he was right." The IRIB official in charge of political affairs, Rahmani Fazli, also spoke at the meeting. He said, "Now the U.S. is trying to make its desired changes in the country by using internal agents rather than direct intervention. To achieve this goal, it is trying to take advantage of internal and external political groups."