Raeisi calls on BRICS states to designate Israel as terrorist entity, sever ties with regime

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has told leaders of the BRICS group of emerging economies that members of the organization should move to designate the Israeli regime as a terrorist entity because of the extensive crimes it has committed in the Gaza Strip over the past weeks.

“It is necessary that this fake regime be recognized as a terrorist regime and its army be regarded as a terrorist organization,” Raeisi said.

The plea was part of seven proposals submitted by the Iranian president to a virtual BRICS summit held at the organization’s headquarters in South Africa on Tuesday.

The summit was convened at Iran’s request to discuss the ongoing conflict in Palestine where the Israeli regime has killed more than 13,000 people in Gaza as part of a relentless war to confront resistance fighters in the territory.

In his address to the meeting, Raeisi said that BRICS members should unite their efforts to break an Israeli siege on Gaza and facilitate safe delivery of humanitarian aid to the territory, where more than 2.3 million people are in a dire humanitarian situation.

He also said that BRICS members should help set up an inquiry into Israel’s use of banned weapons in the Gaza war, including its use of white phosphorous bombs against the civilian population living in the territory.

The Iranian president further called on members of the bloc to recognize the right of the Palestinian nation to self-defense against the Israeli aggression as well as its struggle to liberate lands occupied by the Israeli regime over the past decades.

“With regards to the constant crimes [committed] by and the racist nature of the fake Israeli regime, free nations [of the world] expect all governments especially BRICS members to immediately put the issue of the severance of political, economic and military ties with the regime high on the agenda,” he further said.

Raeisi also said Iran will support a move by several BRICS countries to lodge a complaint against Israel in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes it has committed in Gaza.

However, he said that the prosecution in the ICC should also cover the United States and its support for the Israeli regime’s killing of children in Gaza.

BRICS stands for the initial letters of the names of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, the five countries that initially formed the bloc to counter the Western hegemony. Iran and five other nations joined the grouping in January 2023.