Iranian president urges Muslim countries to take measures to stop Israeli “killing machine”
In a phone call with Omani Sultan Haitham bin Tarik on Saturday, Raeisi warned the unlimited support by Western countries, particularly the United States, for the crimes of Israel has led to more complication and deterioration of the situation.
He said the Palestinian resistance groups launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm following the intensification of the regime’s crimes in recent months. The operation, he said, has upset the Zionist-Western calculations.
The Iranian president also raised the alarm about plots by Israel and its allies to carry out a massacre in Gaza and force the Palestinians to evacuate the city as the Tel Aviv regime continues to cut off water and electricity and prevents the entry of medicine and food.
In a statement released on Friday, Israel’s military ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate the area within 24 hours, in what is viewed as a precursor to a ground invasion by the occupiers.
It called on all people living north of the Gaza Strip, which amount to more than one million, to relocate south, saying the military would operate “significantly” in the city in the coming days and civilians would only be able to return when another announcement was made.
Raeisi also urged that United Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Arab League and other international circles to address the current dire situation in Gaza.
Israel started its onslaught on October 7 after resistance groups launched multi-pronged Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the largest military operation against the occupying regime in decades.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the Israeli bombardment of Gaza has killed well more than 2,260 people, including more than 700 children, and injured more than 9,800.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Raeisi said Iran has always placed a premium on the expansion of ties with Oman based on good neighborliness and mutual trust.
The president also hailed Muscat’s constructive role in the settlement of regional and international issues.
The Omani sultan, for his part, praised Iran’s stance in support of the oppressed Palestinian people and said Israel should not be allowed to once again force the people to evacuate their homes.
In a phone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al Sudani on Saturday, Raeisi said lifting the siege and preventing genocide in Gaza require an immediate action by all Muslim nations, expressing Iran's readiness to cooperate with Iraq and other Muslim states in this regard.
The Iranian president expressed concern over inhumane acts and the killing of innocent people in Gaza and said Israel is trying to avenge its defeat to the resistance forces through "collective punishment and systematic crime" against defenseless and innocent civilians.
Raeisi said cutting off water and electricity and preventing the dispatch of fuel and food to Gaza are clear examples of "war crime and crimes against humanity."
The Iraqi prime minister, for his part, hailed the stance of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the Iranian government and people on the need to defend the oppressed people of Palestine.
Sudani said the ongoing events in Gaza amount to mass genocide in retaliation for the heavy defeat that the Zionist regime suffered from the resistance fighters.