There is reason to suspect a link between Iran and the Palestinian Authority is behind the latest eruption of Middle East violence, EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana said today.
"It now seems likely that there was a link between Iran and someone in the Palestinian Authority, and there had hardly been any contact of this kind for years," Mr Solana said as he briefed the European Parliament on the Middle East.
In the latest outbreak of violence, he said, "the Palestinians seem to have had access to a higher caliber of weapons than usual," which he said was a main reason to suspect Iranian involvement.
"If it is proved that there is a link, than that will mark a significant change in...the landscape in the Middle East," he said.
"There is no proof yet, but I think something like that may have happened." The US has endorsed allegations that a 50-tonne arms shipment intercepted by the Israeli authorities on January 3rd in the Red Sea was an attempt by Iran to channel arms to the Palestinian Authority.
Iran has denied the allegations, but US President Mr George W Bush has since accused the Islamic Republic of being part of an "axis of evil" involved in terrorism and building weapons of mass destruction.
Mr Solana said the situation in the Middle East could be summed up in one word: "Frustration".
"Today, we can't really talk about a peace process, because there is no process, and there is no peace.
"Mistrust on both sides has reached unmanageable levels," he said. "The situation there is terrible...Terrorism and violence on both sides have shattered the possibility for peace".
He said the EU is "firmly convinced that there won't be any solution to the conflict in military terms. The only possible way out is dialogue, and for there to be dialogue you have to have someone to speak to," he said.
AFP