Iran calls OIC ministerial meeting to discuss Israeli assault on Gaza

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani reiterated his call on Sunday for a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers to address Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip.

He made the call during a phone call with Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar while discussing the latest developments in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Bagheri Kani, in a post on X, said he informed his Pakistani counterpart that Iran has proposed an "extraordinary meeting" of the OIC foreign ministers to address the Israeli onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza.

He also called for "effective, serious and collective measures" to enforce the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has called for an immediate halt to the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah.

Bagheri Kani is currently serving as the caretaker Foreign Minister following the death of Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash last month.

In his phone conversation with the Pakistani foreign minister, he also thanked the Pakistani government officials for their participation in a memorial ceremony for late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accompanied by a high-ranking delegation, including Dar, visited the Iranian capital last month to pay their respects to the slain Iranian officials.

Bagheri Kani has in recent days spoken to foreign ministers from several countries, including Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Algeria, to discuss bilateral and regional issues, including the Palestinian issue.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack last Oct. 7, killing more than 36,400 people, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and injuring over 82,600 others, according to local health authorities.

Nearly eight months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the ICJ, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.