Rouhani expressed Iran’s preparedness to cooperate with Muslim countries to defend the Palestinian rights and called on Muslims across the world to unite against Israel’s policies.
The Iranian chief executive slammed certain regional states for seeking to establish relations with the Zionist regime, warning, “Today it is no secret that the biggest enemy of the Jews [is] not the Muslims and Arabs but the dangerous project of Zionism.”
“Instead of countering the threats of the Zionists, some countries in our region are aligned with the US and Zionists to prescribe the fate of Palestine—If such prescriptions are taken, the Zionists would permanently dominate the Palestinians,” Rouhani said.
The Iranian president further called on the Muslim world to unite against the Zionist regime.
“If we suffer from differences amongst ourselves over some issues, we should not be divided on defending the holy Quds and the Palestinian cause. All the problems of the Muslim world can be resolved through dialogue. It is only through Islamic unity that we can better support the rights of the Islamic Ummah and the holy Quds,” he added.
Prior to his speech to OIC leaders, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani took to twitter to condemn the US for disrespecting Palestinian rights.
“The recent decision by the US admin made it clear that the US is only seeking to secure the maximum interests of the Zionists and has no respect for the legitimate rights of Palestinians. The US has never been an honest mediator and will never be,” Rouhani tweeted.
This comes as Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convenes an urgent summit in Istanbul on Washington’s contentious declaration on Jerusalem al-Quds, with the Turkish foreign minister urging Muslim nations to respond by pressing the world for the recognition of the city as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Representatives from 57 OIC members are attending the summit, which is meant to coordinate a response to a US decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.”
“Firstly the Palestinian state must be recognized by all other countries. We must all strive together for this,” the top Turkish diplomat, Mevlut Cavusoglu , said. “We must encourage other countries to recognize the Palestinian state on the basis of its 1967 borders with East Jerusalem [al-Quds] as its capital.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the OIC, was the first head of state to address the event.
He told OIC leaders that Israel’s expansionism is “skyrocketing,” describing the entity as “a state of occupation.” “Besides this, Israel is a state of terror.”
The Turkish leader further urged the international community to recognize East Jerusalem as the “capital of Palestine.”
Erdogan described Washington’s decision as a reward for Israeli “terror acts” and said the city was a red line for Muslims.
‘Al-Quds will forever be Palestine’s capital’
Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decried the Trump administration’s decision as the “greatest crime” and a flagrant violation of international law. He said Washington was giving away Jerusalem al-Quds a "gift" to the "Zionist movement" as if it were an American city, adding, "It crosses all the red lines."
“Jerusalem [al-Quds] is and will forever be the capital of the Palestinian state... There will be no peace, no stability without that,” he said.
Abbas rejected any future role for the United States in the so-called Middle East peace process, noting that Washington is biased in favor of Israel.
He called on the UN to assume the mediating role in the Mideast peace process and revive it with a new mechanism as the US is no longer “fit” for the task.
The Palestinian president pointed to the unanimous international opposition to Trump’s decision, calling it a “provocation” to Muslim and Christian sentiments.