Seasoned Iranian lawmaker and former foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki speaks at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Geneva, October 16, 2024.

Tehran, October 17 ((RHC)-- The Operation Al-Aqsa Flood of October 7, 2023 by Hamas was the least the Palestinians could do in the face of decades of atrocities perpetrated by the Israeli regime, says a seasoned Iranian lawmaker and former foreign minister.

Manouchehr Mottaki was countering remarks by a Norwegian parliamentarian, Ola Borten Moe, who labeled the operation an act of terrorism at the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Geneva on Wednesday.

“October 7 was the least and most legitimate response by the oppressed Hamas to 75 years of crimes of Israel,” Mottaki stated.  He went on to emphasize that experience has shown diplomacy fails to address Israeli aggression, which, he said, only responds to force.

“Norwegians know better than anyone that if the crimes of Israel could be resolved through diplomacy, the Oslo Accords, signed 30 years ago, would have yielded results,” Mottaki noted, referencing the agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993 aimed at restoring peace to Palestinian lands.

Mottaki said the Israeli regime has disregarded all these “minimal agreements” and numerous UN resolutions intended to protect the rights of the Palestinians.

The former Iranian minister said the Palestinian people should not bear the consequences of crimes committed during World War II by Germany.  “You in Europe initiated Islamophobia; if you witness anti-Semitism in European countries, why must the people of Palestine pay the price?  The repercussions of [German leader Adolf] Hitler’s crimes should be borne by his own country, not others.”

The Iranian parliamentarian lamented Norway’s lack of attention to the thousands of people Israel has massacred.  “Have you built a memorial for over ten thousand children in Gaza or for over fifty thousand innocent women and men massacred by Israel in Gaza or Lebanon?” he asked.

Mottaki said there are regular pro-Palestine protests across Norway and urged the Norwegian envoy to represent his people rather than “the child-killing criminals.”

Mottaki also stated that the Norwegian representative has no grounds to express dissatisfaction with Iran’s retaliatory actions against Israel, given Norway’s failure to condemn Israeli atrocities, particularly the assassination of Palestinian leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, attacks on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria, the pager explosions in Lebanon, and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

He urged the Norwegian envoy “to behave when addressing the civilized and great nation of Iran and to stand on the right side of history.”