President Pezeshkian: US-West sanctions, Israeli bloodshed forestall regional peace

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says the United States, Western countries and the Israeli regime are preventing the establishment of peace in West Asia.

“We seek peace and tranquility but the West and US, through sanctions, and the Zionist regime, through war and bloodshed, are preventing the establishment of peace and tranquility in the region,” Pezeshkian said in a meeting with his South African counterpart Cyril Ramaphosa on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan on Wednesday.

He added that the US and some Western countries are resorting to double standards to portray the oppressed and innocent people, who seek their basic rights, as terrorists.

The Iranian president emphasized that the world is now witnessing a distorted interpretation of human rights and crimes, saying, “An increase in the influence of BRICS and our interaction can rectify the current unjust relations.”

He also expressed optimism that Iran’s membership in BRICS can help reduce the impact of unilateralism and unfair sanctions.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Pezeshkian also hailed South Africa's late leader Nelson Mandela for his fight against injustice and oppression.

He said South Africa’s impartial perspective on the developments in West Asia and the Israeli regime’s war in Gaza reflect Mandela's quest for equality.

The South African president, for his part, said Iran's membership in BRICS will promote the group of emerging countries.

He added that the BRICS member states seek the progress of all the world countries and oppose unilateral development achieved at the cost of others' interests.

The West had imagined that the group would collapse very soon but it is developing very fast, he noted.

Ramaphosa also reiterated the Palestinian people’s right to determine their own future, saying his country has always supported and will continue to support the freedom and rights of the Palestinians. 

He emphasized that South Africa is seriously pursuing the Palestinian people's lawsuit against Israel, reaffirming his country's responsibility regarding the fight against apartheid.

The South African president further expressed his country’s determination to seize every opportunity to improve relations and cooperation with Iran.

Israel has killed 770 Palestinians in 19 days of Jabalia siege: Gaza media office

The Jabalia refugee camp has been the focus of the Israeli operation for 19 days.

In a case brought by South Africa against Israel, the International Court of Justice, the UN’s top court, issued three provisional measures on January 26, March 28, and May 24.

They respectively ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza, allow unimpeded access to food aid into the besieged Palestinian territory, and immediately halt its military invasion of the southern city of Rafah.

Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war against the people of Palestine in Gaza in October 2023, the regime has killed at least 42,792 Gazans. Another 100,412 Palestinians have sustained injuries as well.

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