Iran says the ongoing large-scale operation by Palestinian resistance groups against Israel is a natural and legitimate response to the regime’s crimes against Palestinian people in recent months.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remark in a phone call with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Monday, which was the third day of Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the largest military operation against Israel in decades.
Since Saturday, the Gaza Strip-based resistance groups have fired thousands of rockets at the occupied territories. According to Israeli media outlets, more than 900 settlers and troops have been killed, with over 2,600 others injured as a result.
Amir-Abdollahian slammed the West’s inaction on the “systematic crimes” of the Israeli regime against Palestinians, saying, “If Europe and the West had stopped [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s crimes without [applying their] double standards, perhaps Palestine was not witnessing this situation now.”
The top Iranian diplomat also urged the international community to do its best to support the rights of the Palestinian people.
For his part, Borrell said the EU has been a critic of Netanyahu’s behavior, adding, however, that it is necessary to think about promoting peace at the current juncture.
In a post on his X account, Amir-Abdollahian explained his phone conversation with Borrell, emphasizing that the resistance’s operation was a “legitimate and natural” response to the Zionist regimes’ “extremist and criminal” measures.
امشب با آقای جوزف بورل @JosepBorrellF مسئول سیاست خارجی اتحادیه اروپا پیرامون آخرین تحولات فلسطین گفتگو کردیم.
عملیات مقاومت را واکنش طبیعی و مشروع به اقدامات افراطی و جنایت‌کارانه رژیم صهیونیستی و نتیجه قطعی تندروی‌های نتانیاهو علیه سرزمین مادری ملت فلسطین دانستم.۱
— H.Amirabdollahian امیرعبداللهیان (@Amirabdolahian) October 9, 2023
He added that Operation al-Aqsa Storm is “also an inevitable result of Netanyahu’s extremist actions against the motherland of the Palestinian nation.”
Amir-Abdollahian also stressed the need for global efforts “to put an immediate halt to the apartheid Zionist regime’s massacre of Palestinian citizens, women and children, particularly the resident of the Gaza Strip.”
The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has recorded the death of more than 687 civilians, including 140 children and 105 women, and injury of 3,726 others. A large number of buildings, homes and public facilities have also been badly damaged due to heavy Israeli bombardments.
Defending Palestinians’ rights a duty for all Muslim countries: Amir-Abdollahian
In a separate phone call with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian said all Muslim countries are duty-bound to support and defend the Palestinian people’s rights.
The Iranian foreign minister warned that further intensification of the Israeli regime’s crimes would further complicate the situation in Palestine and the entire region.
The top Qatari diplomat, for his part, condemned Israel’s crimes and said his country has always supported the Palestinian people’s rights.
He urged Western countries to exert pressure on the Tel Aviv regime to immediately stop its attacks against Palestinians.
The Iranian and Qatari foreign minister also highlighted the importance of more consultation among Muslim countries to shore up support for Palestine.
