TEHRAN (AFP) – Direct peace talks between Israel and Palestinians will fail as long as the “root” of the problem remained, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said on Tuesday.

“We don’t think (peace) talks are going to yield any results,” Mehmanparast told reporters at his weekly press conference.

“The root of the Palestinian problem should be cured. We cannot see a solution to the Palestinian issue when the Palestinians have been driven out to other countries, while occupiers and invaders have come from other countries (to Palestinian territories),” Mehmanparast said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have accepted a US invitation to relaunch direct peace negotiations in Washington on September 2 following a 20-month hiatus.

The Palestinians insist talks should lead to the creation of an independent state, and sought an Israeli freeze on settlement activity for the talks to resume.

Netanyahu has made it clear there should be no preconditions for the talks.

The Islamic Republic of Iran does not recognise Israel and relations between the two have deteriorated under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has infuriated Western countries by claiming that the Holocaust was a “myth.”

Israel, believed to be the sole nuclear weapons holder in the Middle East, has never ruled out a military strike against Tehran to stop its controversial atomic programme.