Zarif: Israel Poses Primary Threat to Muslim World

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif censured Israel as the “primary threat” to the Muslim world, warning that the regime is trying to Judaize the occupied Palestinian lands.

Zarif made the statement on Tuesday upon arriving in the Turkish city of Istanbul, where he was to attend an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on recent developments at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

“The main threat to the Islamic world is the Zionist regime,” which is fueling other threats to the region such as terrorism and extremism, Zarif was quoted as saying by Press TV.

He called on Muslim and regional countries to be vigilant and prevent Israel from distracting the Muslim world’s attention from the “primary threat” facing the region.

Israel continues its policy of occupation through efforts “to change the identity and the status of occupied territories and Judaize these areas”, he said.

Zarif hoped the OIC meeting’s decisions would help launch a coordinated international move to end Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.

In a press release on its website, OIC said the Istanbul meeting was aimed at sending “a unified message to the international community by the Muslim world, demanding it to commit Israel, the occupying power, to respect the resolutions of the international legitimacy, the Geneva Conventions and all resolutions on the Palestinian issue, especially al-Quds al-Sharif, which is an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967.”

A new wave of tensions erupted in Beit-ul-Moqaddas after a deadly shootout on July 14 outside the Haram al-Sharif, which Jews call Temple Mount.

Using gunfight as a pretext, Israel set up metal detectors and surveillance cameras at entrances to the al-Aqsa compound.

The restrictive measures sparked criticism worldwide, with Palestinians saying the bans were meant to expand the regime’s control over the holy site and change its status quo.

On July 24, Tel Aviv backed down in the face of protests as well as violent clashes, and removed all restrictions at the al-Aqsa compound, but tensions remain high.