Tehran emergency meeting: Qalibaf says Israel’s survival hinges on 'terror, genocide’

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf says the Israeli regime was founded on genocide and aggression and its survival depends on perpetrating such heinous crimes.

Qalibaf made the remark in an address to the 5th emergency meeting of members of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (PUIC) in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Wednesday.

During the meeting, convened under the title of “Cooperation of Parliaments for Palestine” and attended by senior parliamentary officials from the OIC member states, the participants discussed Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“What is coming to pass in the Gaza Strip today is a cause of deep concern and shame for humanity. It is a double injustice to a nation that has been deprived of any human rights and has been under aggression and occupation for more than seven decades,” Qalibaf said.

“No awakened conscience can be dismissive of the heinous and widespread bloody crimes being committed by the Israeli Zionist regime’s war machine in Gaza and its horrendous effects on the peace and security of the region and the world.”

‘A Pampered sidekick’

Qalibaf also touched on Washington’s and its Western allies’ unflinching support to the Israeli regime over the past decades, saying, “Israel, has not only committed the most heinous crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine, but as a corrupt and pampered child under the support of the Western political system and as the center of crisis in the region has remained immune from any accountability, responsibility and punishment.”

He further stressed that Israel’s 75-year-long occupation of Palestine and the forcible displacement of its original residents in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip is not just an issue related to Palestinians and the Israeli regime but an “affront” to humanity and the international community.

“The establishment of this regime was through terror, genocide and aggression, and the continuation of its existence depends on the repetition of such acts,” Qalibaf said.

“There is no practical policy in sight by the Zionist regime to end the conflict in the long run and permanently stop the violence because this fake regime has based its survival on the continuation of the policy of aggression and hostility in the region.”

The top Iranian legislator also censured the West’s double-standard approach towards the Israeli crimes in Gaza, saying, “What we are witnessing in Palestine these days is a clear example of the hypocritical and deviant policy of the United States and its Western allies in supporting bloodshed, absolute defense of the tyrant, and categorical denial of the historical and civilizational realities of Palestine.

Highlighting the international community’s duty in this regard, Qalibaf called for tapping into various mechanisms, including widespread political and economic sanctions, to force the occupation to stop the war on Gaza.

He also demanded the formation of a fact-finding committee to investigate Israel’s latest crimes in Gaza and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories for ensuing trials at the international tribunals.

The Parliament speaker also called for an immediate halt to the regime’s ceaseless bombardment of Palestinian civilians and the provision of humanitarian access to Gaza at the earliest possible time.

SS