Palestine Muslim World’s Principal Issue: Iranian Foreign Ministry

Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday on the 74th anniversary of Nakba (catastrophe) Day that forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes in 1948 and when the Israeli regime proclaimed existence.

The following is the text of the statement:

“May 14, 1948, the Nakba Day, is reminiscent of occupation, massacre and displacement of the true owners of the Palestinian land at the hands of Zionist occupiers and usurpers, and the onset of a trend of systematic violations of the Palestinian nation’s natural and basic rights.

Since that date, the criminal Zionists —backed by some Western powers— have usurped the holy land of Palestine with the forceful use of weapons and through carnage and plunder, laying the foundation for lasting insecurity and instability in the West Asia region, a situation that continues to this day.

The anniversary of the Nakba Day once again reminds the world’s governments and nations of their human and legal duty of defending the Palestinian people’s rights and puts on display the failure of international institutions and organizations to resolve one of the longest-running humanitarian and political crises in the world. This comes especially at a time when the usurper Zionist regime has started a new round of desecrations of Palestine’s religious sites, Islamic sanctities and al-Quds as well as slaughter of the defenseless Palestinian people, which has, of course, been met with a crushing response from Palestine’s popular resistance and Intifada, with God’s grace.

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes addressing the issue of Palestine, as the foremost and principal issue of the Muslim world, and considers attempts by global Zionism to drive the issue into oblivion to be doomed to failure.

As shown by history, any compromise with the sworn enemies of the Islamic Ummah encourages the apartheid Zionist government’s inhumane acts and violations of human rights. The nations and Muslim leaders should know that the only way to realize the Palestinian people’s rights is maintaining Islamic unity and convergence and the world’s freedom-seeking governments and Muslim nations support for the resistance against occupiers and bullying powers.

The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that just and lasting peace will not be established in the Middle East unless through the resolution of the fundamental issues in this crisis, including ending the organized occupation of Palestine, securing a return of refugees, deciding Palestine’s future establishment via a referendum joined by all of its true owners, and finally, the formation of a unified Palestinian government, with Quds al-Sharif as its capital.

While expressing its full solidarity with the Palestinian people’s ideal cause and paying tribute to the martyrs and fighters on the path to freedom and the Muslims’ First Qibla, the Islamic Republic of Iran invites all governments and international bodies to shoulder their human and legal duties vis-� -vis the oppressed Palestinian people and prevent a continuation of occupation and crimes by the regime occupying al-Quds and the spread of this regime’s racist policies in occupied Palestine.”