Iranian FM expresses concern over situation in Palestine

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Tuesday sent separate messages to UN Chief Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Hissein Brahim Taha, and his counterparts from Muslim countries, expressing deep concern over the current situation in Palestine.

In the messages, Amirabdollahian said: “The criminal actions of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people, including assassinations, killings, arrests of people and destruction of their property, are a violation of the principles and norms of international law and human rights.”

Last week, the WAFA Palestinian News Agency reported that Israeli law enforcement officers had broken into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and used flash bang grenades, tear gas, rubber bullets and batons.

The Israeli police said dozens of young men in masks had barricaded themselves in the Temple complex, chanting slogans and calling for riots, therefore “police had to intervene.”

Amirabdollahian stressed that the Islamic Republic of Iran views the “violent and brutal acts” by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people and its move to deprive the Palestinians of their inherent rights, including their right to livelihood, the right to determine their fate and the right to work, as a clear and gross violation of human rights and as the enforcement of racist policies. He added that Tehran strongly condemns these acts.

Elsewhere in the letters, the top Iranian diplomat pointed to “the Zionist regime’s abuse of the global public opinion’s preoccupation with the Ukraine war.”

He criticized the silence and inaction of human rights organizations and the silence of the countries claiming to be defending human rights toward the escalation of Israel’s acts against the Palestinian people. Furthermore, he underlined the need for immediate and effective action by the international community and Muslim countries in support of the oppressed Palestinian people in order to stop “the daily crimes of the Zionists.”

The Foreign Minister urged for an urgent probe into the current situation in Palestine by the UN, the OIC and other responsible international bodies.

He went on to note that a lasting and just peace in the region is possible only through a complete end to the occupation of Palestine, the return of all Palestinian refugees to their homeland, and allowing Palestinians to determine the future ruling system of Palestine through a public and free referendum in which all the main inhabitants of the Palestinian land, including Muslims, Christians and Jews, would participate.

The diplomat added that finally, an independent and unified Palestinian state with the holy city of al-Quds as its capital must be established based on the political and democratic plan of the Islamic Republic of Iran registered with the UN Secretariat.

Amirabdollahian further reaffirmed Iran’s full readiness to work and collaborate with Muslim and friendly countries to step up support for the “defenseless Palestinian people in the face of crimes by the Zionist regime.”