Tehran, Riyadh call for Muslim unity in confronting Israeli displacement of Gazans

The foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia have underscored the need for the Muslim community to unite in opposition to Israel’s plots to forcibly displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has met and conferred with his Saudi Arabian counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in the city of Jeddah on the sidelines of an extraordinary meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi city on Friday.

Araghchi and Farhan stressed “the necessity for the Islamic world to focus on addressing challenges, particularly regarding the occupied Palestine and preventing the conspiracy to erase Palestine through the forced displacement of the people of Gaza from the Strip.”

During the meeting, the two sides also reviewed the state of bilateral relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia and reiterated that both countries are determined to advance the shared goals of their leaders in developing relations across all fields.

The Iranian foreign minister arrived in Jeddah on Thursday to attend the OIC meeting convened to address Israeli aggression and crimes against Palestinians as well as Israeli plots to forcibly displace Gazans.

Last month, US President Donald Trump proposed that Washington would take over control of the Gaza Strip — possibly with the help of US troops — to create a “Riviera” of West Asia, a yet-to-be-conceived plot that was widely bashed by the international community and Arab states, but welcomed by the occupying regime.

Israel launched its brutal US-backed aggression against Gaza after Hamas-led resistance groups carried out a historic operation against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

The Tel Aviv regime failed to achieve its declared objectives of freeing captives and eliminating Hamas despite killing at least 48,446 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza.

Israel was forced to agree to Hamas’s longstanding negotiation terms under a three-phase Gaza ceasefire, which began on January 19.

Later, however, Israel disrupted the truce by refusing to move forward to its second stage.

Israel’s siege on Gaza part of its ‘war of extermination’: Hamas

Hamas says Israel’s intensification of the siege of Gaza and preventing the entry of aid are parts of the regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory..

‘Insecurity in Syria would only benefit Israel’

On the sidelines of the OIC meeting in Jeddah, Araghchi also met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan and discussed the challenges facing the Muslim world, underscoring concerted efforts to confront Israel’s forced displacement of Gazans and the regime’s annexation of the occupied West Bank.

Pointing to the dangerous developments unfolding in Syria under the rule of HTS militants, Araghchi stressed the responsibility of Syria’s new rulers to safeguard the security and lives of all groups and segments of Syrian society.

The top Iranian diplomat also emphasized that insecurity and instability in Syria would only benefit the Israeli regime and provide opportunities for terrorist and extremist groups to exploit the situation.

The Turkish foreign minister, for his part, referred to the shared concern of Islamic countries in supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and their liberation from occupation as he reiterated Ankara’s commitment to the goal.

Iran FM meets Tunisian, Egyptian, and Omani counterparts

Iran’s foreign minister also met with several other counterparts from Tunisia, Egypt, and Oman on Friday, discussing regional and international developments, not least the situation in Palestine.

Araghchi and Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti highlighted the very close positions of their countries in supporting the Palestinian cause and realizing the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people, as well as their liberation from occupation and apartheid.

They called for serious efforts by all Islamic countries to prevent the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, to rebuild the Strip, and to hold the Zionist regime accountable for its genocidal crimes.

In another meeting, Oman’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sayyid Badr Al Busaidi pointed to the value and importance of the friendly ties between Muscat and Tehran, emphasizing the determination of his country’s leaders to enhance bilateral relations in all areas of mutual interest.

Busaidi also expressed gratitude to the Islamic Republic of Iran for its commitment to the Palestinian cause and stressed the necessity of talks and cooperation among regional countries and the Islamic world to help realize the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and prevent the forced displacement of Gaza residents.

Araghchi underlined that the Islamic Republic places no restrictions on expanding ties with Oman and is ready to deepen relations in all areas.

On the sidelines of the OIC meeting, the Iranian foreign minister and his Egyptian counterpart, Badr Abdelatty, rejected any plan that involves the forced displacement of the people of Gaza and advancing the conspiracy of ethnic cleansing and the erasing of Palestine.

They underscored the continuation and deepening of the solidarity of the “Islamic Ummah” and the international community with the Palestinian people to free them from the Israeli occupation and rebuild the Gaza Strip.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk