Rouhani blasts US for embassy relocation

Rouhani blasts US for embassy relocation
Thu Dec 7, 2017 14:16:55

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani slammed Washington for deciding to relocate its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds (Jerusalem), and said the "illegal move" would further destabilize Palestine and the region.

(FNA) -- "The Islamic states should join hands in opposing the dangerous move by the administration of US President Donald Trump," President Rouhani said in a telephone conversation with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.

"We believe, given the current conditions, all Islamic nations must become united and take a serious step in countering this wrong, illegal, provocative and gravely dangerous move by the US," the Iranian president added.

He underlined that there is no doubt that Israel is responsible for all the insecurity and instability in the region.

Trump announced late on Wednesday that he would relocate the US diplomatic mission in Israel, a decision that the US Congress made in 1995 but all of his successors have deferred ever since.

Israel lays claim to the entirety of al-Quds (Jerusalem) as its capital while Palestinians want its Eastern part as the capital of a future state for themselves.

Palestinian leaders have warned that the potential relocation would fuel strong reaction in the region and deliver a death blow to any prospect of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Describing the issue of Palestine and countering Israeli plots as "priorities" for the Islamic world, the Iranian president invited all "peace-loving" nations to "resist" the Tel Aviv regime's "wrongful measures."

Rouhani also thanked Erdogan for making the phone call and accepted his invitation for an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul.

Erdogan, in response, expressed concern over Trump's pending announcement and said the American head of state's "insolence" was due to the "internal discord" between the Islamic nations.

Warning that Washington's move would "ratchet up tensions and lead to bad incidents," the Turkish president said that "the Islamic world needs to express its unity and integrity on this issue".

Trump’s move which overturns decades of US foreign policy is feared to trigger a fresh wave of unrest in the Middle East.

In a Wednesday night statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the move a “blatant violation of international resolutions,” and warned against a new Palestinian Intifada (uprising).

Category:
string(151) "[{"id":"3200501","sort":"11443001","contenttypeid":"21","pic":"151264180865614000.jpg","title":"Iran’s Zarif: Al-Quds to remain Arabic, Islamic "} ]"