President censures Trump's 'unilateral' Golan recognition

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has censured US President Donald Trump for recognizing the Israeli regime's "sovereignty" over the occupied Golan Heights, saying the unilateral move was against international law.

"No one could imagine that a man in the United States would unilaterally grant a piece of land belonging to a certain nation to a usurper in violation of international law," Rouhani said in a meeting with a number of Iranian cabinet ministers and executive officials in Tehran on Tuesday.

He added that some "colonial powers" in the past carried out similar moves and donated a part of a country to another, "but such an action is unprecedented in the current century."

'Closer regional cooperation key to counter US, Israel'

Meanwhile, in a phone conversation with Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi later on Tuesday, the Iranian president called for "closer cooperation" among countries in the Middle East to counter the US and Israel.

"The Zionist regime's excessive demands and Washington's wrong decisions further necessitate closer cooperation among regional countries," Rouhani told the Iraqi prime minister.

"Worrisome remarks about the violation of the Palestinian and Syrian nations' rights, particularly about the Golan Heights, are very dangerous for regional security," he added.

The president expressed hope that the improvement of cooperation among regional countries would prevent further tensions in the region.

SS