Raisi meets Sudani, says Iran and Iraq have ‘common position’ on Gaza war

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN (AA) - At a joint press conference with the Iraqi premier in Tehran on Monday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said the biggest concern of the Islamic world at the moment is “crimes against Palestinians.”

Leading a high-level delegation, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani arrived in Tehran on an unannounced visit in the wee hours of Monday morning.

The visit came a day after Sudani met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Baghdad.

After their delegation-level talks, Raisi told media persons at the joint presser that Iran and Iraq have a “common position” on the Palestinian issue: a halt to bombings in Gaza and the establishment of a cease-fire. Israel has continued to attack the besieged Palestinian enclave from land, air and sea since last month's cross border offensive by Hamas.

He said Israel is “committing crimes against humanity” and “genocide” in the Gaza Strip, and noted Islamic countries “cannot and will not be silent in the face of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.”

Repeating what he has said on multiple occasions in recent weeks, Iran’s president said the military, intelligence, and financial support provided to Israel by the US has emboldened it to “commit cruel acts against the Palestinian people.”

“America claims that it seeks to help Gaza and establish a cease-fire, but what we see in practice and in the UN resolutions is to open the hands of the Zionist regime to kill and kill,” Raisi added.

He said the US and other Western allies of Israel are “complicit” in the war crimes underway in Gaza.

For his part, the visiting Iraqi leader emphasized his country’s position on “the liberation of Palestine and establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Sudani said his visit to Tehran is to “emphasize the deepening of Iran-Iraq relations,” adding that the most important topic of discussion is the “organized genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza.

He described the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, launched by Hamas on Oct. 7, as “a result of years of criminal policies of the Zionist regime against the people of Gaza.”

The two leaders also touched on Tehran-Baghdad bilateral ties, including the implementation of a security agreement between the two sides, the construction of a railway project and the development of trade.

A day before heading to Tehran, Sudani held talks with the top American diplomat, with the issue of attacks on US military bases in Iraq and Syria featuring prominently on the agenda.

US officials have blamed the attacks on Iraq-affiliated militia groups in the Arab country.

After the meeting, Blinken said his country is “not looking for conflict with Iran” but vowed to fully protect the American nationals and soldiers stationed in Iraq and Syria.