TEHRAN (Iran News) South Africa has issued a statement marking the 47th United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Turkish media Anadolu Agency reported on Monday.

The occasion provides us with a crucial opportunity to reflect and take stock of the plight of the people of Palestine, the statement added.

The country stressed the importance of an immediate end to the conflict in Palestine and Lebanon, advocating for the commencement of a political process to establish a just and sustainable peace.

Pretoria highlighted that the unresolved Palestinian issue, now spanning 75 years, remains central to tensions in the Middle East.

South Africa reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to strengthening its bond of solidarity, friendship, and cooperation with Palestine.

In keeping with South Africa’s long-term and principled support for the Palestinian people, the Government of South Africa remains committed to supporting initiatives aimed at refocusing the international agenda on Palestine and a revived Middle East peace process, the statement noted.

In December 2023,SOUTH AFRICA filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing it of crimes of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is seated in The Hague, Netherlands, issued multiple warrants on Thursday for those involved in the ongoing Israeli invasion of war. This included warrants for the arrest of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant.

The death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza, which started in October 2023, has climbed to 43,764, leaving the Palestinian territory in ruins amid relentless Israeli attacks.

Fatalities in the Gaza Strip are believed to be far higher, with thousands of people still trapped under the rubble.

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Late last month, Pretoria, in an 84-page suit filed against Israel at the ICJ, asked the top court to urgently declare that the Tel Aviv regime has breached its responsibilities under international law since it launched an ongoing war on the impoverished coastal sliver.

South Africa detailed evidence of brutality being perpetrated in Gaza, making the African nation the first to file a lawsuit against the occupying regime at the ICJ, appealing to the court to force the regime to “immediately suspend” its war on Gaza.

“No armed attack on a state territory no matter how serious… can provide justification for or defend breaches of the convention,” said Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s justice minister, during his opening statement in the case at the ICJ.

“Israel’s response to the October 7 attack has crossed this line and given rise to the breaches of the convention,” he stressed, setting out South Africa’s case at the top court.

“The Palestinians have experienced systematic oppression and violence for the last 76 years, on October 6, 2023, and every day since October 7, 2023. In the Gaza Strip, at least since 2004, Israel continues to exercise control over the airspace, territorial waters, land crossings, water, electricity, and civilian infrastructure, as well as key government functions,” Lamola added.

South Africa, when faced with such evidence of genocide in Gaza, firmly decided to initiate this case in an attempt to prevent such crimes in the Palestinian enclave as contained in Article 1 of the Convention, the South African justice minister further said at the court.

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South Africa accuses Israel of being “in violation of its obligations under the Genocide Convention” in its application and says that “acts and omissions by Israel … are genocidal in character, as they are committed with the requisite specific intent … to destroy Palestinians in Gaza,” according to the ICJ.

Over 21,507 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to the enclave’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry. Among the dead are at least 308 people who were sheltering in United Nations shelters, per the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza, in response to Hamas’ deadly terror attacks and kidnapping rampage on October 7, have caused widespread devastation in the densely-inhabited coastal strip, prompting outcry from aid groups and the international community.

US President Joe Biden said earlier this month that that Israel is engaged in “indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza. US intelligence assessment suggests that nearly half of the air-to-ground munitions that Israel has used in Gaza in its war with Hamas have been unguided, otherwise known as “dumb bombs.” Unguided munitions are typically less precise and can pose a greater threat to civilians.

Many of the bombs used in Gaza have also been massive, capable of killing or wounding people more than 1,000 feet away, analysis by CNN and artificial intelligence company Synthetaic has suggested.

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate bombing.

South Africa’s application came as Israel’s military said Friday that it is expanding its operations in southern Gaza, where civilians were previously told to seek refuge. It also claimed to have destroyed a network of tunnels and one of the “hideout apartments” belonging to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s claims.

“South Africa is gravely concerned with the plight of civilians caught in the present Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip due to the indiscriminate use of force and forcible removal of inhabitants,” a statement released by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Friday.

“Furthermore, there are ongoing reports of international crimes, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes, being committed as well as reports that acts meeting the threshold of genocide or related crimes as defined in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, have been and may still be committed in the context of the ongoing massacres in Gaza,” it says.

“As a State Party to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, South Africa is under a treaty obligation to prevent genocide from occurring.”

South Africa and Israel are both parties to the Genocide Convention, according to the ICJ, which is also known as the World Court and is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

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Ahead of the gathering, which is being held in Johannesburg from August 22 to 24, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed his nation outlining the significance of this year’s meeting.

“An expanded BRICS will represent a diverse group of nations with different political systems that share a common desire to have a more balanced global order,” he pointed out.

BRICS includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in South Africa earlier than other leaders, before the summit began for bilateral talks, something Ramaphosa hailed, along with his bilateral meetings with President Da Silva of Brazil, Prime Minister Modi of India “and many other heads of state on the sidelines of the summit.”

Russia is represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, with President Vladimir Putin participating online.

Ahead of the summit, Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra said New Delhi had a “positive intent and an open mind when it comes to the BRICS expansion”, while noting that a “consensus” on the criteria for taking in new members is needed.

The summit will aim to widen the influence of BRICS and push for a shift in global order in line with multilateralism.

The heads of state and government of the member nations meet annually, with each nation taking up a one-year rotating chairmanship of the group.

President Xi is expected to engage in talks with a view to pressing ahead for the expansion of the emerging economic bloc.

In an article published in South African newspapers on Monday, Xi said that “more and more countries are knocking on the door of BRICS, aspiring to join our cooperation”.

Sitting beside the Chinese leader, Ramaphosa said that the two countries had “similar views” regarding expansion.

“We share your view President Xi that BRICS is a vitally important forum which plays an important role in the reform of global governance and in the promotion of multilateralism and cooperation throughout the world,” he said.

Upon arrival in South Africa, Xi said, “I am confident that the upcoming summit will be an important milestone in the development of the BRICS mechanism.”

Scores of countries have either expressed their interest in joining BRICS or have formally applied for membership, with the support of its members, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

The first day saw BRICS Business Forum Leaders’ Dialogue, followed by a dinner meeting hosted by President Ramaphosa.

It appears that reaching a consensus among the member states on the criteria to allow new members is all that is left on the table for expansion.

In his speech to the nation, Ramaphosa said South Africa has resisted foreign pressure to align itself with any global powers, saying his country works on a neutral playing field in international politics.

“It is for this reason that South Africa is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, a forum of 120 countries that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.”

But he noted, “Our non-aligned position exists alongside our active support for the struggles of the oppressed and marginalized in different parts of the world.”

“We have always believed that the freedom we won, and the international solidarity from which we benefited, imposes a duty on us is to support the struggles of those who continue to experience colonialism and racial oppression.”

“That is why we will continue to support the struggles of the people of Palestine and Western Sahara.”

He also said, “It is these principles that guide our participation in BRICS.”

BRICS members make up more than a quarter of the global economy while accounting for a fifth of global trade. In terms of territorial and demographic size, the current members span almost a third of the world’s land surface while encompassing more than 40 percent of the world’s total population.

The attraction toward BRICS is that it plays an important role in the world due to its economic prosperity, market potential, political influence and development cooperation.

Some 50 other leaders – among them Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi and Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo – have confirmed they will attend the talks.

Boosting the use of member states’ local currencies in trade transactions is also on the agenda.

On Tuesday, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the group of emerging countries is not meant to challenge other international coalitions.

“We want BRICS to be a multilateral institution, not an exclusive club … We just want to organize ourselves,” Lula said.

The leftist leader repeated his call for a common trading currency, saying the move would facilitate trade between the emerging nations in their own currencies and not particularly aimed at “rejecting” the U.S. dollar.

According to 2023 “Friends of BRICS” talks in Cape Town in June, among the dozens of countries that have expressed strong interest in becoming new members are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Iran, Argentina, Algeria, Bolivia, Indonesia, Egypt, Ethiopia (one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa), Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Gabon and Kazakhstan.

If the BRICS club does expand, the potential of its trade surplus would witness an unprecedentedly sharp rise in economic growth.

The bloc has also been using its voice to advocate a world that is more equitable, balanced, and governed by an inclusive system of international governance.

South Africa itself has benefited from vital energy infrastructure projects from the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the BRICS bank, which was established by the member states in 2015.

The NDB is planning to issue its first Indian rupee bond by October, its chief operating officer has said. Members intend to trade more in local currencies.

Last week, the vice president of the bank Vladimir Kazbekov told a press briefing that the NDB had issued its first bond in South Africa and could consider local currency issuance to members.

Founded in 2015, the NDB is one of the biggest achievements of BRICS, as the members want to turn the bloc into a counterweight to Western-controlled banking systems.

“We’re going to tap (the) Indian market – rupees – maybe by October in India,” Kazbekov said.

“Now we start thinking seriously… to use one member country’s currency to finance projects with that currency in another member. Let’s say, a project in South Africa to be financed in CNY (Chinese yuan), not with USD (U.S. dollar),” he said.

Reports indicate that the NDB aims to increase local currency lending.  However, BRICS is quite unique in many other ways.

The West (with the U.S. at its helm) has long been abusing trade practices, resorting to universal sanctions regimes against sovereign nations. It neglects the development needs of poor nations.

This is while the West has amassed its wealth via the domination of international bodies, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Despite Western attempts to isolate sovereign states through these methods, the facts on the ground show they have been unsuccessful in doing so.

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Khumalo made the remarks while addressing a meeting in Iran’s southern province of Bushehr on Monday night.

He was at a meeting with provincial officials, which discussed ways of expanding cooperation between Bushehr Province and South Africa.

The ambassador explained that Iran-South African joint committee is, among other things, tasked with evaluating issues hindering the expansion of bilateral trade ties within the existing 23 memoranda of understanding (MoUs).

He added that all issues discussed during his trip to Bushehr Province are also included in those MoUs.

Khumalo referred to an upcoming visit of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to South Africa, and called for work to identify further common grounds for developing trade ties and possible issues affecting that cooperation.

The South African envoy announced his embassy’s readiness to facilitate efforts by Iranian entities and individuals to have economic activities in South Africa.

Khorshid Gazdrazi, head of Bushehr’s Chamber of Commerce also elaborated on the province’s production capacities.

Gazdrazi said that Bushehr aims to increase its target markets and therefore its needs to identify South Africa’s requirements or that it can increase exports to that country.

Meanwhile earlier during his visit to Dashtestan Cement Industries Company in Bushehr, Khumalo said on Monday that his country is ready to expand bilateral trade ties with Iran.

“Although Iran has faced challenges and limitations, South Africa calls for finding appropriate opportunities to have bilateral trade ties with Iran,” the south African ambassador said.

Referring to the meetings with the provincial authorities in Iran, he pointed out that they considered the capabilities of Bushehr province and the necessary capacities of cooperation in the field of trade and exchange of technical knowledge of engineering and experts.

Pointing to the importance of trade cooperation with the countries in the world, he highlighted that cooperation with Iran is significant for South Africa.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said that Iran will respond decisively to the assassination of the country’s prominent nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

“The sworn enemies of Islamic Iran must know that we will continue the path of this martyr and the path of martyrs will never stop,” said Major General Hossein Salami on Tuesday on the sidelines of the commemoration ceremony of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.

Stating that the enemy is focused on the strengths of the Iranians out of fear, he added, “To resort to criminal acts such as assassination means that we must train the likes of Martyr Fakhrizadeh.”

He emphasized that the path of this martyr will continue with more determination by his students, saying, “The enemies must await our reactions; we determine the time, place and quality of the response.”

Previously, IRGC Chief Commander in a message had highlighted, “The enemies of the Iranian nation, especially the commanders, perpetrators and supporters of this crime, should know that such crimes will not undermine the determination of the Iranians to continue this glorious and authoritarian path, and severe revenge and punishment of the perpetrators are on the agenda.”

Meanwhile yesterday, Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps stressed the revenge on perpetrators of the Iranian scientist assassination is definite.

Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi announced the progress of the investigation on the case of the assassination of Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, saying that the final results will be declared as soon as possible.

“We will definitely move forward in this case, and various relevant institutions from the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence are investigating this case around the clock,” he said.

Emphasizing on taking revenge on the perpetrators and commanders of the assassination of Martyr Fakhrizadeh, Fadavi said, “We will definitely act as soon as our response is sufficient and appropriate.”

Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, head of the Research and Innovation Organization of the Ministry of Defense and a scientist in the country’s nuclear industry, was martyred on Friday (November 27th) in a terrorist attack around Tehran.

The assassination of the Iranian prominent nuclear and defense scientist followed many international reactions and many countries including Syria, Russia, Swiss, Venezuela, South Africa, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, and Afghanistan condemned it.

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IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says Iran will definitely avenge the U.S. assassination of General Qassem Soleimani, but it will only target those who are either directly or indirectly involved in the murder.

General Hossein Salami’s remarks on Saturday came after a US publication claimed that Iran planned to assassinate the American ambassador to South Africa in retaliation, prompting both Tehran and Johannesburg to dismiss the allegation.

“Our promise of avenging the martyrdom of General Soleimani is definite, serious and real. Mr. Trump, do not doubt our revenge, because it is quite definite and serious,” Gen. Soleimani said at the joint morning ceremony of the General Staff of the IRGC.

But “we will be targeting those who were directly or indirectly involved in the martyrdom of the great general Haj Qassem Soleimani,” he said.

“Do you think we will kill a female ambassador to South Africa in exchange for the blood of our martyr brother?” Gen. Salami added.

When the U.S. assassinated Gen. Soleimani and Iraq’s top anti-terror commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside Baghdad airport on Jan. 3, Iran responded five days later with a volley of precision-guided ballistic missiles which pommeled the Ain al-Asad base in Iraq, where US troops were deployed.

Gen. Salami said Saturday, “We are an honorable people and fair, and we take revenge fairly and justly, which is why we did not target your soldiers at Ain al-Asad.”

A flimsy U.S. report on the Politico this week, quoting unnamed officials, claimed that Iran had sought to assassinate US Ambassador to South Africa Lana Marks in retaliation for the January assassination of the top Iranian anti-terror commander.

South Africa’s State Security Agency said Friday it had found no evidence to support US media claims that Iran was planning to assassinate Marks.

Iran has categorically rejected the “malicious and baseless” report as part of “hackneyed and outworn methods to create Iranophobic atmosphere” by the U.S.

Gen. Salami on Saturday dealt with the threat, pledging that Iranian missiles are ready to rain down on U.S. troops.

“While you are severely plagued by your own internal problems, you are threatening us with a thousand-fold attack, but when we struck Ayn al-Asad, our assumption and prediction was not that you would not answer, but we were absolutely assuming that you would respond, and that we had hundreds of missiles ready to fire, and if you answered, we would destroy the intended targets.

“It is the same today, and if a hair sheds from an Iranian, we will blow away all your fleece and wool,” the top general said, using a Persian catchphrase.

“These threats are serious and we do not wage a verbal war and put everything to action,” the top general added.

“The Americans should know that we will strike anyone who was involved in the cowardly assassination of General Soleimani, and this is a serious message,” Gen. Salami said on Saturday.

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