Prince Charles Expresses Desire to Visit Iran, Act as Mideast ‘Peacemaker’

Prior to visiting Jerusalem last Thursday for the Fifth World Holocaust Forum, Britain’s Prince Charles expressed a desire to act as a “peacemaker” by traveling to Iran to mediate on behalf of the West a solution to the standoff over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and regional interventionism. “Yes, obviously I would like to [go to Tehran],” the heir to the British throne told The Sunday Times in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. “I know that Iran has been such an important part of the world for so many centuries and has contributed so much to human knowledge, culture, poetry [and] art,” he stated. “I mean, really remarkable people, and I have always been fascinated by Islamic culture and architecture and craftsmanship for a long time,” Charles added in statements that raised eyebrows in some circles, as less than 48 hours later he addressed the event in Jerusalem commemorating the Nazi extermination of 6 million Jews. Iranian leaders have repeatedly vowed to duplicate the genocide by eradicating the lone Jewish state. On Friday, Charles toured the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where he also riled some Israelis by expressing heartbreak for the “suffering” of the Palestinians. The British royal also met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the superseding interview, Prince Charles declared that “the most important thing [for the Middle East] is a just and lasting peace. Yes, I do pray [for this]. I pray very hard all the time.”