The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Permanent Mission in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Jeddah sent an official letter on Tuesday to the secretariat of the organization, announcing Iran’s readiness to host an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the organization on Palestine, the Iranian foreign ministry said.

The mission also conveyed Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian’s gratitude to OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha for exchanging views during their constructive negotiations on the developments in Palestine.

The mission officially said the Islamic Republic of Iran is fully ready to host the extraordinary ministerial meeting of the OIC.

The following is text of the official letter by Iran’s mission to the OIC:

Following the phone call on Monday, October 9, 2023, between the Honorable Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, with the Honorable Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Hissein Brahim Taha, on the beastly crimes being perpetrated by the Zionist regime against Palestinian civilians, especially in the we would like to express Mr. Amir Abdollahian’s gratitude for the opportunity provided to exchange views with the honorable secretary general and his constructive negotiations with him on the issue.

The foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed his deep hatred and concern about the criminal actions by the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people as vivid examples of war crimes and genocide, and announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns the massive military and savage moves by the Zionist regime of Israel in Palestine that have so far led to the martyrdom and injury of hundreds of children of the Palestinian nation, especially infants, kids and women.

Mr. Amir Abdollahian thanked Hissein Brahim Taha for his timely condemnation of the regime’s actions and emphasized that the apartheid and child-killing regime is responsible in this context.

He also stressed that considering the high sensitivity of the case, the OIC should swiftly deal with the important matter at the highest possible level and informed the secretary general of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s full readiness to host the emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Tehran, in the first agreed opportunity.

It was decided that the proposal would be submitted to the secretariat in writing.

Hereby, we would be grateful if the OIC secretariat immediately starts the necessary consultations with the member states of the organization on the proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government and announce the final result to the mission in order to advance the procedures.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has rejected Palestine plan designated by US President Donald Trump as the so-called “deal of the century” on the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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In comments on Sunday, Mousavi provided a description of the Saudi government’s move to prevent Iran from participating in the OIC meeting in Jeddah.

“Following the US president’s unveiling of the Zionist plan known as ‘deal of the century’, it was decided – at the suggestion of the Palestinian National Authority and at the invitation of secretary-general of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation – that an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee of the OIC would be held at the level of foreign ministers of the Member States on Monday, February 3, 2020, at the headquarters of the OIC secretariat in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah in order to examine that plan and adopt stances on it.

“Although the secretary-general of the OIC had invited the Islamic Republic of Iran as an active member of the Organization to take part in the Jeddah meeting, the Saudi government – which hosts the Organization’s secretariat in Jeddah – violated the definite commitments as the government hosting this international Organization as well as the plain principles stipulated in the modus operandi of such organizations, such as the necessity of ensuring the free and unrestricted participation of the Member States in all activities of the Organization, and denied the Islamic Republic of Iran’s delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari visa until the final hours before the meeting,” Mousavi added.

“The trend in excluding the delegations representing certain Member States, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, from the OIC’s meetings and conferences held in Jeddah at the OIC secretariat has been intensified by Saudi Arabia over the past months,” the Foreign Ministry’s website quoted him as saying.

“Such an approach adopted by the Saudi government has been deplored by a number of the Member States, which have accused that country (Saudi Arabia) of abusing the privilege of hosting this international Organization and of improper exploitation of the OIC to fulfill its own political interests and objectives,” the Iranian spokesman added.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs submits a formal note of protest to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s secretariat, the contents of which will be also distributed among the Organization’s Member States, highlights Saudi Arabia’s abuse of hosting the Organization’s headquarters in order to obstruct the process of its activities, including by restricting the free participation of the Member States in the Organization’s meetings in Jeddah, particularly on a major subject like Palestine, and declares that the competence of this regime (Saudi Arabia) to continue playing host to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s headquarters has been seriously questioned,” he concluded.

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Naftali Bennett, right-wing Israeli minister of military affairs, said on Sunday that the new settlement, which will be constructed at the site of a wholesale market complex, will “double” the number of settlers in al-Khalil. Iran News covers the report.

Under the construction project, the old market stalls will be demolished to make way for new shops and residential buildings.

Currently, around 800 settlers live in al-Khalil guarded by hundreds of Israeli soldiers. The Israeli settlers are surrounded by some 200,000 Palestinians.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, OIC Secretary-General Yusuf bin Ahmed al-Uthaymeen said the Israeli decision “is a flagrant breach of the international law, Geneva Accord, and relevant UN resolutions and undermines peace efforts.”

He also urged the international community and the UN Security Council to take “resolute action” towards ending the Tel Aviv regime’s settlement policies.

Earlier, Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) secretary-general, said the project was the “first tangible result of the US decision to legitimize colonization.”

He was referring to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement last month that the establishment of settlements in the occupied West Bank “is not per se inconsistent with international law.”

Additionally, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement said the new settlement project was the result of “growing American support” for Israel, warning that it will “solidify the occupation’s policy of aggression on Palestinian lands.”

The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now also condemned the al-Khalil settlement plan as an addition to the “ugliest face of Israel’s control in the occupied territories.”

“In order to maintain the presence of 800 settlers among a quarter of a million Palestinians, entire streets in Hebron are closed to Palestinians, denying them freedom of movement,” it said in a statement.

More than 600,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements built since the 1967 Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds.

Emboldened by US President Donald Trump’s all-out support, Israel has stepped up its settlement construction activities in defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which pronounced settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem al-Quds “a flagrant violation under international law.”

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The statement also condemned Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinian citizens in violation of international humanitarian law, calling these criminal acts a threat to international peace, security and stability in the Middle East and the world.

It slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stated intention to “apply Israeli sovereignty on all of the Jordan Valley, northern Dead Sea and settlements in the occupied West Bank”, describing it as a dangerous escalation, a further serious encroachment on the historical and legal rights of the Palestinian people, and a flagrant breach of the UN Charter and international law.

It called on the international community to take all measures required to confront Israel “including boycotting and imposing economic and political sanctions”.

It urged all OIC member states to raise the issue of Palestine and the illegitimate Israeli occupation during the 74th UN General Assembly next week.

It said peace and security in the Middle East could not be achieved without a full Israeli withdrawal from the 1967 occupied territory of Palestine, including Jerusalem.

The OIC member countries stressed their support for the Palestinian efforts to gain greater international recognition of the State of Palestine on the borders of June 4, 1967, calling on nations that have not yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so as soon as possible.

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