Cairo, December 19 (RHC)-- Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has deplored the international community’s abject failure to stop the Israeli regime’s violations amid untrammeled support provided for Tel Aviv by the United States, its biggest ally.
The top diplomat made the remarks in Cairo on Wednesday, addressing the 21st Session of the Council of Ministers of D-8 (Developing-8) Organization for Economic Cooperation. “The international community has embarrassingly failed to stop acts of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide by the Zionist regime,” he said.
“This is largely attributed to the political, military, intelligence, and financial support by the U.S. administration to Israel.” The foreign minister pointed to around 15 months of escalated deadly aggression by the regime against the Gaza Strip, where Tel Aviv has been waging a genocidal war, Lebanon, and Syria.
The genocidal aggression has so far claimed the lives of at least 45,097 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Around 4,000 people were also killed during the regime’s intensified raids against Lebanon that began shortly after the launch of the brutal military onslaught, and lasted until last month, when a ceasefire took effect. Tel Aviv has violated the truce on many occasions to deadly effects for the Lebanese people.
Additionally, the regime has markedly ramped up its deadly attacks against Syria, especially targeting its military infrastructure, in the aftermath of the country’s takeover by Western and Tel Aviv-backed anti-Damascus militants.
Araghchi likewise noted that the meeting of the developing nations had come at the time when the Muslim world was still suffering from unprecedented cruelty on the part of the regime. He hoped that the nations’ Special Summit, which is scheduled to go underway on Thursday, gathering representatives from the Islamic Republic, Egypt, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Turkey, would send a strong message to the world that the Israeli aggression and violations in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria had to stop immediately.
The event, the official added, also had to convey the message that the regime and those of its allies that have been fueling its aggression, had to be held accountable, and a permanent ceasefire had to be established in Gaza to allow unhindered access to humanitarian assistance by the Gazans.
According to Araghchi, the summit was also expected to underline the imperative that the Palestinian cause and the right of Palestinians to self-determination had to be realized, any attempt for land annexation by the regime be prevented, and Israeli forces be immediately taken out of occupied territories in the coastal sliver, Lebanon, and Syria.
“Last but not the least, that D8 countries are prepared to support Palestine and Lebanon to address economic and related challenges and problems resulting from the current situation,” he stated.
Araghchi, meanwhile, hailed the countries for acting as one of the first groups of nations to condemn the launch of the war on Gaza, adding that the Thursday event “will be the latest testament of our brotherly countries to our continued joint commitment to fraternity, peace, dialogue, justice, and rule of law across the region and the world, as envisaged in the D8 Charter.”
The top diplomat, meanwhile, hailed a declaration that was issued during the Wednesday meeting for presenting a promising landscape for enhanced cooperation among the countries. He finally advised the nations to focus more on the ways and means to make their economies and peoples more resilient in the face of possible shocks in the future.
