“Al-Quds is the land of all Muslims, and will remain the capital of Palestinian government because we will never forget this important and sacred goal,” said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday.
He made the remarks at the VIP pavilion of Mehrabad Airport before leaving Tehran for Istanbul where the heads of Islamic countries will attend the extraordinary Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit on Al-Quds.
He is making the trip on the invitation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who has invited leaders of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states to convene for an extraordinary leaders’ summit in Istanbul over the issue of US embassy move to al-Quds (Jerusalem).
“The incident we are facing today is of prime importance,” added President Rouhani, “Al-Quds and the holy mosque are the venues that hold a great deal of significance for us, Muslims, and at the same time for Jews and Christians.”
“In the Palestinian land, the ones who are a foreigner and stranger are the Zionists because before them, Muslims, Jews, and Christians were living peacefully on this land for centuries,” reiterated the Iranian president.
“The improper and illegal decision of US President to announce that the US embassy will be relocated to al-Quds was an insult to Muslims because the land of Palestine and al-Quds does not belong to a specific nation or geographical region,” noted Mr. Rouhani. “This land belongs to all Muslims of the world and al-Aqsa Mosque was the first Qibla of Muslims and even today is the third important city of Muslims.”
President Rouhani is slated to deliver a speech at the OIC summit which will be convened on Wednesday morning in the Turkish port city of Istanbul.
Last Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed a decree ordering US state department to relocate US embassy to “Israeli regime” from Tel Aviv to al-Quds in a move to recognize the holy city as the capital city of the “Israeli regime”.
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