Iran's Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani addresses an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Developing Eight (D-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 8, 2024. (Photo by Iran's Foreign Ministry)
Istanbul, June 8 (RHC)-- Iran's Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani says Muslim countries should sever all relations with Israel and take practical steps to force the regime to stop its crimes against the people of Palestine.
Bagheri Kani made the announcement in an address to an extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Developing Eight (D-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation on Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday.
He said Israel will only accept the reality when encountered with force, citing Iran's retaliatory attack against the regime -- dubbed "Operation True Promise" -- on April 13th as a clear testimony in this regard.
He warned that the Israeli regime is resorting to the policy of collective punishment to pursue the "sinister and dangerous goal of societal collapse in Gaza by making it uninhabitable – an act that is regarded as a clear manifestation of war crimes and genocide."
The Iranian interim foreign minister emphasized that solidarity among Muslim countries can forestall the continuance of Israel's crimes. He said Muslim countries and the D-8 member states alike "must marshal the entirety of their capacities to pivot all focus to that direction."
"Severing the vital arteries of the Zionist regime, breaking off political and economic ties and embargoing the oil, energy, and goods of the Zionist regime are among necessary measures against its butchery and annihilation in Gaza," Bagheri Kani pointed out.
He criticized the international community's inaction regarding the Zionist regime's attacks on Gaza over the past eight months "which would have otherwise put an end to these unprecedented crimes." "The current situation in the Rafah Crossing has pushed the world to the cusp of yet another humanitarian disaster," the top Iranian diplomat said.
He proposed the recognition of the acknowledged right of the Palestinian people and their legitimate resistance against aggression and occupation, based on principles of international law.
He also called for the establishment of a special international mission to bring Israel's crimes before international courts, as among effective measures that the D-8 members can take at this critical juncture. The D-8 member countries are expected to adopt a firm joint declaration regarding the Tel Aviv regime’s devastating war on Gaza.
At least 36,801 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed and 83,680 people have been wounded in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past eight months.
