Iranian envoy stresses joint strategy of Ummah to counter Israeli aggression

LAHORE: Expressing full support to Hamas in its war against Israel, Iranian Ambassador in Pakistan Dr Reza Amiri Mughaddam has urged the Islamic Ummah to devise a joint strategy to counter the Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians.

Flanked by Counsel General Mehran Movahed Far and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) leader Muhammad Mehdi, Dr Reza Amiri Mughaddam told a group of reporters on Sunday that Israel wanted to expand the ‘Zionist regime’ from the West Bank to the Euphrates. The dialogue of the Arab countries with the Zionist state of Israel was a big strategic mistake. Israel did not want to occupy Palestine only but also considers the entire Arab region as part of its state. Not only this, he added, it could even think of expanding it to Iran, Pakistan and India. The need of the hour, he said, is devising a joint strategy by the Muslim Ummah to counter Israel.

He said the Western powers like the US and Britain had extended open support to Israel, but when a similar kind of gesture was needed from the Islamic world for Palestinians or Hamas, it was found missing. He said the United Nations Security Council had been playing in the hands of only a few countries for the past several years, and the issues of Palestine and Kashmir, and other issues related to the Muslim Ummah, had not been resolved.

He said the two-state plan of Israel and Palestine was created by Israel itself, which was no longer acceptable to it. “Iran has never accepted the Zionist regime nor it will ever accept it,” said the ambassador.

Dr Reza Amiri said there was an urgent need to fortify the Hamas power, so that they could secure freedom from Israel. He said that no other country had helped Palestine as much as Iran has. There is no doubt that Israel was currently committing genocide against the Palestinians.

Dr. Reza Amiri said Israel had taken barbarity to the point that millions of people had come out against it in Europe, including England. He urged the Islamic nations to come forward in this regard.

He said there was a time when Palestinians used to fight with stones and slingshots, but now they had missiles, adding that on many occasions, Israel had been seen waving the white flag, requesting ceasefire. He predicted that Israel would be wiped out from the world map.

To a question whether Israel could attack Iran, Dr Reza said it had been threatening and conspiring against his country for decades. He added that Israel had always called for destroying the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it had always levelled allegations against it over its nuclear programme. It was unfortunate, he said, that in the war against Iraq, some Muslim countries sided against Iran. He said even the people of the Muslim nations that had recognised Israel had not accepted the decision.

Dr Reza also expressed grief over the role of United Nations in failing to stop Israel for using aggression against innocent population.

The Iranian ambassador said Iran would promote friendly and mutual relations with Saudi Arabia and hoped that Saudi Arabia would also see the issues from the same point of view. He said the current leadership of Saudi Arabia had realised that the United States was no longer a power like it was in the past, and it could not create obstacles in its relationship with Iran.

To a question about the common enemy of Iran and Pakistan, he said the forces involved in sabotaging peace of these nations were their greatest enemies. He said Iran attached great importance to its ties with Pakistan, as both countries shared a border of around 950 kms. He said there was a need to enhance people-to-people contacts and business activities between the two sides. He said last year, both countries had a mutual trade of $2.40 billion and efforts would be made to further enhance mutual cooperation in this regard.

He said border markets were a very healthy indicator of boosting trade ties between the two nations. He said China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was a very significant project for Pakistan and to meet its fuel needs, Iran could play its role. He said the products manufactured in Pakistan could meet 70 per cent of Iran’s needs. Pakistan could earn a lot of foreign exchange by sending rice, wheat, pulses and meat among other things to Iran while oil and building materials were the top items sent from Iran to Pakistan. He said Russia and Pakistan were in trade through Chinese currency, and this common currency plan could also be discussed for Pak-Iran trade.

PMLN leader Muhammad Mehdi said Pakistan had always supported the Palestine cause and it was one of those countries that had recognised PLO in the very beginning.