Iranian, Vatican FMs urge political solution for Gaza war

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian had a phone conversation on Monday morning with the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States Richard Gallagher on the Israeli regime’s ongoing strikes on the Palestinian people, stressing that finding a political solution for the issue should be expedited.

During the phone conversation, the Iranian foreign minister touched on the content of the letter he recently sent to the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States on the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza and appreciated the responsible stance adopted by his counterpart in the Vatican as well as the Pope and stressed the trend has to continue.

Amirabdollahian stated, “In the current situation, there are two paths ahead of us; one, the path of trying to find a political solution – and we are still making efforts and holding talks in this path – and the other one is the continuation of the war and the possibility of spreading its scope.”

The Iranian foreign minister also expressed, “We believe that the Palestinian crisis should fundamentally be resolved and the political solution is holding a referendum under the aegis of the United Nations among all the original residents of Palestine, including Christians, Jews and Muslims.”

For his part, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, while emphasizing on the political solution, clarified the Vatican’s views on stopping the conflict and delivering humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza.

Gallagher stressed that a political solution can prevent the expansion of the war.

More than 8,000 people have died and 22,000 others injured during Israel’s unabated strikes on Gaza over the past three weeks.