Speaking at an extraordinary joint summit meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday, Aref commemorated the name and memory of Martyrs of the Resistance including former Lebanon’s Hezbollah Chief Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and ex-Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement Chief, Hamas, Martyr Yayha Sinwar who were assassinated by the criminal Zionist regime.
He also thanked Saudi Arabian officials for holding the meeting and emphasized that Israeli genocide in Palestine and Lebanon is the outcome of the impunity of the criminal.
Aref strongly denounced the Zionist regime’s crimes and genocide in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Indifference to oppression, aggression, and injustice leads to inaction and passivity, he said, adding that inaction is a type of moral failure that emboldens criminals to commit more crime.
The genocide and occupation are the result of sense of impunity of criminals who consider themselves entitled to the unquestioning support of the United States and several other Western governments in any situation, the first vice president underlined.
Emphasizing the responsibility of the Islamic and Arab countries in the current circumstances, he called for a decisive decision and collective action to end the crimes of the occupying regime of Israel.
Establishing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, urgent coordination at the international level for the rapid and unrestricted distribution of emergency humanitarian aid among the populations affected by the Zionist regime's aggression in Palestine and Lebanon, and taking action to rebuild vital infrastructure and improve health services in Gaza and Lebanon are the least things that should be addressed by all the Islamic states.
Aref called for a firm condemnation of crimes of the occupying regime of Israel and a renewed strong support for the Palestinian cause, and expressed hope this meeting would move towards consolidating a unified position against the Zionist regime's aggressions by taking effective and coordinated steps, he added.
He reiterated Iran's call for holding a referendum in the occupied lands with the participation of all the Palestinians as the best solution to the problem.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has proposed a referendum solution among all Palestinians - Muslim, Christian and Jewish - as the only democratic solution for a permanent resolution of the Palestinian issue and securing the right of these people to self-determination."
Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref arrived in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh on Monday to participate in the meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
MA/6285098