SHIMON PERES

January 30th, 2007

In the first high-ranking Israeli visit to Qatar in more than a decade, Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres spoke to students at a Doha Debates Special event.

Peres accepted the Doha Debates invitation to travel to Qatar for the historic visit which gave students the opportunity to question him directly. The students are resident in Doha but come from all over the Arab world and beyond.

During the event, Peres ruled out an Israeli attack on Iran and told the audience that Israel had no intention of intervening in Iran's internal affairs.

"We don't have any problems with Iran. The problem is Ahmadinejad. It's a problem for the Iranian people because he does not carry either a promise nor a solution." Peres added: "Israel does not intend to use military action".

Peres was questioned on a range of Arab-Israeli issues, including the dismantling of settlements, Israeli incursions into Ramallah and Israel's interests in Iraq.

The event was broadcast on BBC World on 3rd and 4th February 2007.

To watch this debate, click here

To download as a podcast, click here

To read the full transcript of the event, click here

To see the photo gallery of the event, click here

For more information, please contact the Doha Debates team: thedohadebates@qf.org.qa