Zionists, Trump hatching dangerous plot in Middle East: Larijani

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has denounced the Israeli regime's "criminal and inhumane" actions after it killed more than a dozen Palestinians during Friday's Land Day rallies, warning that Zionists and US President Donald Trump are hatching a "dangerous plot" against the Middle Eastern countries.

Larijani, who is the current president of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Member States (PUIC), said on Sunday that the latest deadly attacks by the illegitimate Israeli regime were continuation of the Zionists' repeated crimes backed by the US government.

The Israeli regime's policy for creating tension and crisis and Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds constitute a dangerous plot, which threatens regional stability and security, he said.

On Friday, around 30,000 Gazans marched to the fence with the occupied territories at the start of a six-week protest, dubbed "The Great March of Return," demanding the right to return to their homeland.

Larijani further said, "Tel Aviv's ruling terrorists only understand the language of force and resistance is the most important factor in countering the ambitious goals of the Zionist regime."

Friday's demonstrations turned violent after Israeli forces used tear gas and live fire to force back demonstrators who had approached within a few hundred meters of the heavily-fortified fence.

The clashes left 17 Palestinians martyred and over 1,400 others injured in Gaza in what was the single deadliest day in the Israel-Palestine conflict since the 2014 war.

He called on parliaments of the OIC member states and other countries across the world to adopt necessary measures to condemn the Israeli regime's crimes, support the legitimate rights of the Palestinians and prevent the Zionists from creating a new crisis.

A senior Iranian lawmaker also on Sunday said Israel's killing of 17 Palestinians once again revealed that this bloodthirsty regime was the main enemy of Muslim nations and urged all Muslim countries to close their embassies in Tel Aviv.

Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Alaeddin Boroujerdi also called on the OIC to "condemn this crime to support the oppressed Palestinian people."

He said the Israeli regime cannot take any criminal action without the US support and Trump's embassy transfer decision had further emboldened the Tel Aviv regime.

SS