Qassemi on Thursday dismissed the provisions of an 11-article statement issued by permanent representatives of the OIC at a meeting in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.
“Due to Saudi Arabia’s refusal to issue visas, the representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran are not able to attend OIC meetings in Jeddah; so, such statements are unfairly and unilaterally drawn up and issued under pressure by Saudi Arabia,” said Qassemi.
He said such moves are aimed at deflecting public attention from the Saudi aggression on Yemen.
“The countries which launched aggression on Yemen and are responsible for the years-long human crisis and the killing, on a daily basis, of defenceless Yemeni people with the most modern weaponry, and [are responsible for] the destruction of the country’s infrastructure, issue such worthless statements and cash in on regional and international institutions and mechanisms to cover up their crimes and divert the attention of the people both in the region and across the world,” he said.
“We believe the issuance of such statements in the name of, and by taking advantage of the reputation of the OIC, will not only result in mistrust among its member states, but waste the member states’ assets and potentialities, make the OIC inefficient when it comes to key topics and issues related to the Muslim world, and undermine the status of the organization at the international level,” he added.