The president of Iran defended on Monday the creation of a “united front of Islamic countries” against Israel, at a time of intensification of tensions after the recent clashes in Al-Aqsa between Israeli policemen and Palestinians entrenched in that Jerusalem mosque.
“Today, the cooperation and the formation of a united front of Islamic countries against the Zionist regime is more necessary than ever. [referência a Israel]in firm support for the Palestinian nation,” said Ebrahim Raissi during a telephone conversation with his Algerian counterpart Abdelmayid Tebune.
According to the official website of the Iranian Presidency, Raissi also said that Tehran and Algiers maintain “common and close positions” on “regional and global” issues, that is, regarding Palestine and “the population [palestiniana] oppressed”.
The Algerian Presidency said, for its part, that the two heads of state “addressed the current situation in occupied Palestine”, including “the abuses and attacks in the West Bank and the desecration of the Al-Aqsa mosque”.
“A flagrant provocation against 1.5 billion Muslims in a holy month,” Tebune said, referring to Ramadan ceremonies.
In the early hours of last Wednesday, the Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque to remove some 400 Palestinians who, according to the Israeli authorities, had barricaded themselves in the temple with “fireworks, sticks and stones.”
During the clashes, the Israeli police detained more than 300 Palestinians and more than 30 were injured.
Israeli authorities said at the time that police unsuccessfully tried to negotiate the evacuation of the mosque, prompting officers to enter the temple, “where they were met with violence.”
Israel Police Chief Kobi Shabtai acknowledged Sunday that the officers used “too much force to push back the entrenched worshipers” in the mosque.
After Mecca and Medina, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the Esplanade of Mosques (Jerusalem), is considered the third most important holy place for Muslims.
Source: TSF
