Ibrahim came to Saudi Arabia to participate in the OIC summit

RIYADH: Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi arrived in Saudi Arabia on Saturday to attend the OIC summit in Riyadh aimed at discussing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, The Times of Israel reported. In an airport video, the Iranian president, wearing a traditional Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, was seen greeting Saudi officials after disembarking from his plane.

Iranian President Raisi will attend a summit focused on addressing the conflict between Israel and Hamas on Sunday, according to an IRNA report. Besides, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Libyan Presidential Council Chairman Mohammed al-Manafi, Pakistan’s acting Prime Minister, Anwarul Haq Kakkar and Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim also arrived in Riyadh for the summit. Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Ministry had sent a team of experts to Saudi Arabia to assess the document to be released at the OIC summit on the Gaza crisis.

According to IRNA report, Iran’s Ambassador to Riyadh Alireza Enayati said that the Iranian team has reached Riyadh. Addressing the X, Inayati said officials will assess the document of the extraordinary meeting of the OIC. The OIC meeting will be held on the basis of proposals from many Islamic countries including Iran.

The OIC held its ministerial meeting in Gaza on 18 October, 11 days after Israel launched retaliatory measures against Hamas. Earlier on November 9, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan had talked about the Gaza crisis. The two leaders met on Thursday on the sidelines of the 16th summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Raisi and Erdogan agreed that effective and practical decisions need to be taken to help resolve the Gaza crisis when the OIC meets in Riyadh on November 11 to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Both leaders said that Israeli bombing of Gaza should be stopped immediately. Raisi stressed that the issue of Palestine and the crimes committed by Israel against the people in Gaza are the most important concerns of Iran, Turkey and the Islamic world. Ibrahim Raisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan talked about bilateral relations between Turkey and Iran, with Raisi describing them as developing, IRNA reported.

Earlier this week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian had written to BRICS countries, including India, urging them to stop attacks on the Gaza Strip. The countries that are part of this group are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. During the BRICS summit in South Africa in August this year, Iran was inducted into the grouping from 2024 along with five new members: Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a news release, “Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, sent separate letters to the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) regarding the Zionist regime in Palestine. Expressing deep concern over the atrocities committed by the

“They urged BRICS member states to take active and constructive intervention to stop the attacks in the Gaza Strip, prevent crimes against humanity and hold the attackers accountable,” the release said. In letters sent by Hossein Amir-Abdullahian to the BRICS countries, he called the Israeli retaliation “part of the crimes committed against the oppressed Palestinian people.”

“The letters describe the illegal occupation of Palestinian lands, mass killings, destruction of homes and farms, attacks on medical facilities, as well as arrests, torture and humiliation and attacks on the dignity of men, women and even children by the occupiers “The regime highlighted that Amirabdollahian stressed that these actions are part of the crimes committed against the oppressed Palestinian people,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry release said.

Calling for prioritizing the situation in Gaza, the Iranian Foreign Minister stressed the role of BRICS and other important north-western alliances such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Union, SICA, ASEAN and others. Amirabdullahian urged these organizations to prioritize the dire situation in Gaza.