In a Monday telephone conversation with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Zarif said, “the Zionist regime [of Israel] has carried out an all-out opportunistic attack on Gaza by taking advantage of the siege conditions.”
The top Iranian diplomat said that the establishment of ceasefire in Gaza should meet the demands of the Palestinians, including the removal of the siege on the Gaza Strip and ensuring a permanent halt to Israeli attacks.
The Emirati foreign minister, for his part, expressed hope that the continuation of coordinated and joint efforts by the influential countries in the region would contribute to an immediate halt to Israel’s offensive against the people of Gaza.
As part of his diplomatic efforts, the Iranian foreign minister has held telephone conversations with Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Madani to discuss the latest developments in Gaza.
The Iranian minister also held separate phone talks with his Italian, Turkish, Qatari, Kuwaiti and Egyptian counterparts to exchanged views on the situation in Gaza and the ways to deliver relief aid to the Gazans.
The Palestinian death toll from more than 20 days of aerial and ground assaults on Gaza now stands at over 1,060, with more than 6,000 people injured.
The Tel Aviv regime confirms that 43 Israelis have been killed in the Gaza war. However, Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, says Palestinian resistance fighters have killed around 100 Israeli soldiers.
