Iran urges international organizations to bring Israel to justice over Gaza war crimes
Amir-Abdollahian made the call during the 12th annual summit of foreign ministers of the five Caspian Sea littoral states, Caspian Five, which is hosted by Russia, in the country’s capital of Moscow on Tuesday.
“The Zionist regime’s war criminals must be punished in the international court,” Amir-Abdollahian said as he pointed to the more than 16,000 innocent Palestinians, including women and children, killed by the Israeli regime in Gaza since the start of Operation al-Aqsa Storm in early October.
Calling for international pressure on Israel to lift the blockade on the Strip, the top Iranian diplomat said, “Stop the export of goods to the occupied Palestinian territories and boycott the goods made in Israel; this is the least [we can do] to show our sympathy for the people of Gaza.”
Amir-Abdollahian also said the Islamic Republic recognizes the right of the Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation within the framework of international law and United Nations resolutions, underlining the necessity of restoring their right to self-determination as well as the formation of the Palestinian State with al-Quds as its capital and the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
Nearly 16,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in the Israeli strikes.
Tel Aviv has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
Speaking at the summit in Moscow, Iran’s foreign minister also called for more maritime cooperation between the five countries bordering the Caspian Sea while stressing the significance of security and stability in the region.
Amir-Abdollahian said all decisions regarding the issues on the Caspian Sea must be made with the “consensus and agreement” of the five littoral states of Iran, Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.