MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) Iran's newly-appointed parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has called for unity and solidarity among the Islamic nations against Israel, in a move that may fuel already heated tensions between the two nations.
Qalibaf, a former Tehran mayor and former police chief, made a statement during phone talks with Turkey's Grand National Assembly speaker Mustafa Sentop, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Friday.
The relations between Israel and Iran have long been tense. Last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Twitter called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that will be "uprooted and destroyed." Khamenei also specified elimination of the Israeli government does not mean the elimination of Jews.
The statement by Khamenei has triggered a strong backlash with� Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accusing him of advocating genocide. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also strongly condemned the call and noted that the security of the Jewish state was of paramount importance for the bloc. The top diplomat added that the appeal poses a threat to international peace and security.
