JERICHO, West Bank — Despite the rising death toll, with 156 Palestinians killed since Oct. 1, 2015, President Mahmoud Abbas made a point of discussing larger regional conflicts during his Jan. 6 speech in Bethlehem. Abbas exclaimed three separate times, “We stand with Saudi Arabia” in its clash against Iran.
In a wide-ranging interview with Al-Monitor at the Negotiations Affairs Department’s office of the PLO, chief negotiator Saeb Erekat adopted a harsh tone against Tehran, saying, “The Iranians should stop poking their noses into the affairs of others or exporting their revolution.”