Iran will not be indifferent to full-scale war on Lebanon, says FM Araghchi
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has taken a swipe at the international community over its failure to stop Israeli atrocities, stressing that Iran will not be indifferent to an all-out war on Lebanon.
“In no way will the Islamic Republic of Iran be indifferent to an all-out war in Lebanon,” he told a foreign ministerial meeting of the member states of the BRICS group of emerging economic powers in New York on Thursday.
Araghchi also proposed that the Gaza crisis be put on the agenda of the upcoming BRICS Summit, which is scheduled to be held in the Russian city of Kazan from October 22 to 24.
Araghchi described BRICS as a highly potential grouping in the Global South, stating that the bloc can play an effective role in uplifting the position of member countries and inducing positive developments and changes in global systems.
He also pointed to the profound significance of BRICS in the field of global relations and international systems, noting that the bloc can help change the global paradigm of progress based on the goals of developing countries.
Such a paradigm would lead to the establishment of fair and non-discriminatory global organizations and systems, Araghchi noted.
Iran officially became a member of BRICS at the beginning of this year, five months after it announced its acceptance as a full member into the group along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
BRICS was formed by and initially consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which collectively represent around 40% of the global population and a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP).
‘Israel’s objective to eliminate Hamas delusional’
Separately, Araghchi dismissed Israel’s stated goal of eliminating the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza as “delusional.”
Addressing a meeting of the Palestine Committee of Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in New York, the top Iranian diplomat stated that Israel has committed numerous crimes in the Gaza Strip and other Palestinian territories over the past year.
He touched on the massacre of nearly 42,000 people in Gaza over the past year, noting that innocent children and women constitute approximately 70% of the victims of these inhumane atrocities.
The figure has set a world record in brutality and savagery, unmatched even by the bloodiest regimes in human history, Araghchi pointed out.
“The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, in Tehran marks another act of aggression and organized terrorism by the terrorist Zionist regime.
“At the same time, recent developments in Palestine and the resistance of Gaza and the West Bank demonstrate once again that the destruction of Palestinian resistance and Hamas, as a liberation movement formed against the occupation, was nothing more than an illusion,” he said.
Araghchi said the Tel Aviv regime’s intention to escalate conflict and expand war throughout West Asia clearly indicates a lack of commitment to peace and stability in the region.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says Israel and its allies are the “biggest terrorists” of today’s era as they are killing the innocent Palestinian and Lebanese people.
“This apartheid and occupying regime is now undertaking an unjust war of aggression against Lebanon, seeking to violate the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and kill its innocent people,” Araghchi said.
He called for an immediate, comprehensive, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, complete lifting of the inhumane 17-year-old blockade of the coastal territory, release of all Palestinian prisoners, Israel’s obligation to conduct an immediate, complete and unconditional withdrawal from Gaza and secure the safe, unhindered and dignified return of all displaced Palestinians.
The Iranian foreign minister also demanded immediate arms and trade sanctions against Israel in order to oblige the occupying regime to fully stop its invasion of Gaza, and implement its international and legal obligations under humanitarian and human rights laws.
