Israel-Hamas war: Ebrahim arrives in Saudi Arabia to attend OIC Summit

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

Iranian President Raisi will attend the summit focused on addressing the conflict between Israel and Hamas which is set to take place on Sunday, according to an IRNA report. Moreover, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the President of Libya's Presidential Council, Mohamed Al-Manfi, Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwarul Haq Kakar, 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 that will assess a document set to be released at the OIC Summit on the Gaza crisis.

Iran's Ambassador to Riyadh Alireza Enayati said that the Iranian team has arrived in Riyadh, IRNA reported. Taking to X, Enayati stated that the officials will assess the document of the OIC's extraordinary meeting. The OIC meeting will take place based on proposals made by several Islamic nations, including Iran.

The OIC held its ministerial meeting in Gaza on October 18, 11 days after Israel began its counter-offensive against Hamas. Earlier on November 9, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan held talks on the Gaza crisis. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the 16th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) in Uzbekistan's Tashkent on Thursday.

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

The two leaders said that the Israeli bombardment of Gaza should be immediately stopped. Raisi stressed that the issue of Palestine and crimes committed by Israel against people in Gaza are the most important concerns of Iran, Turkey and the Islamic world. According to IRNA report, Ebrahim Raisi and Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about bilateral relations between Turkey and Iran, with Raisi describing them as developing.

Earlier this week, Iran Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian wrote a letter to the BRICS countries, including India, urging them to call for a halt in the attacks on the Gaza strip. The countries that are part of the bloc are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Iran was admitted to the group during the BRICS summit in South Africa in August this year, along with five new members from 2024 onwards: Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iran stated in a news release, "Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, sent separate letters to the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), expressing deep concern over the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime in Palestine."

"He urged for proactive and constructive intervention by the BRICS member countries to halt the attacks in the Gaza Strip, prevent crimes against humanity, and hold the aggressors accountable," the release added. In the letters sent by Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to the BRICS countries, he has called the Israeli retaliatory actions "part of the crimes committed against the oppressed Palestinian people."

"The letters highlighted the illegal usurpation of Palestinian lands, mass killings, destruction of homes and farms, assaults on medical facilities, as well as the arrest, torture, and humiliation and attacking the dignity of men, women, and even children by the occupying regime. Amirabdollahian stressed that these actions are part of the crimes committed against the oppressed Palestinian people," Iran Foreign Ministry release read.

Calling for prioritisation of situation in Gaza, Iranian Foreign Minister emphasised the role of BRICS and other significant post-western alliances like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the Eurasian Union, SICA, ASEAN, and others. Amirabdollahian urged these organisations to prioritize the dire situation in Gaza.