to report «iusnews»; Iranian President Seyed Ebrahim Rayeesi strongly condemned the US and other Western countries over their unbridled support for the Israeli regime's atrocities in the besieged Gaza Strip.
President Rayeesi made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Tehran.
Lavrov is in Tehran to take part in the second meeting of the 3+3 regional platform, which includes the three South Caucasus countries of Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan plus Russia, Turkey, and Iran.
"What is happening in Gaza is a horrendous crime against defenseless and innocent women and children, which is being committed with the direct and official support of the United States and other Western countries," the Iranian president said.
During the meeting, President Rayeesi also pointed to recent remarks made by US President Joe Biden during his visit to the occupied territories earlier this month who said "I have long said: If Israel didn’t exist, we would have to invent it".
"These remarks [by the US president] mean that the Americans are prepared to trample upon the blood of women and children, and the rubble of the Palestinian people's homes in order to meet their [own] interests," the Iranian president said.
He then pointed to underway efforts by Washington to have the United Nations Security Council pass a resolution that would try to portrait Israel's actions as an instance of "self-defense."
“Today, the United States is trying to pursue through a UN Security Council resolution what it has not been able to achieve in the field with regards to supporting the Zionist regime and meeting its own racist interests," Raeisi said.
Iran's president added that therefore, all nations and free-thinking people of the world hope that in view of its position and effective presence in the Security Council and on the international level, Russia would be able to prevent the Americans from achieving their goal.
The Russian foreign minister, for his part, laid emphasis on Moscow's commitment to implementation of all of the country's agreements with Iran in economic, commercial, transport, energy, and cultural fields.
Lavrov said his participation in the meeting of the 3+3 regional platform was a manifestation of growing regional cooperation between Iran and Russia.
According to the Russian top diplomat, further expansion of cooperation among regional countries would help them meet their interests, and at the same time, pursue their development goals.
"During today's meeting, it was emphasized [by all participants] that regional problems must be settled without any interference from foreign parties," Lavrov emphasized.
On October 7, Hamas initiated a multi-pronged surprise military operation via land, sea and air. The group announced it was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians. The attacks have so far killed more than 1,400 and injured over 5,000, according to Israeli officials. Hamas also announced it is holding between at least 200 and 250 hostages.
Following the multi-front attack by Hamas, Israel carried out heavy bombardment across the Gaza Strip, killing more than 5,000 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, and wounding over 16,000 others. Tel Aviv has also ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza, saying he would halt its supply of electricity, food, water and fuel.
Israel's relentless bombing of Gaza has damaged half of the besieged enclave's residential units and displaced 70 percent of the population, Palestinian officials have announced on Sunday.
According to the local government's media office, around 165,000 residential units were damaged, with at least 20,000 of them completely destroyed or made unfit for habitation.
Israel’s military has also ordered 1.1 million people living in Northern Gaza to evacuate their homes, amid signs it is set to ramp up its offensive. The bombing, as well as enforced displacement orders by the army, has pushed 1.5 million people out of their homes.
The United Nations has warned it is “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences" as hospitals in the besieged territory are "on the brink of collapse".
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, where some 2 million people live in an area of 140 square miles. It has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 17 years. More than half of its population lives in poverty and is food insecure, with nearly 80% of its population relying on humanitarian assistance.
Human rights groups have stressed that depriving an occupied population of basic necessities is a war crime. Palestinian health officials have warned Gaza is rapidly running out of water and electricity, and the population faces severe shortages of food and medicine. They say several hospitals in the besieged territory are under constant bombardment and facing imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel.
The Gaza Health Ministry has announced at least 10 hospitals in the Gaza Strip have stopped working due to Israeli shelling and fuel shortages, while the regional director of the World Health Organization (WHO) telling Al Jazeera at least 20 out of the 35 hospitals in the coastal enclave are no longer functioning.
Five UN agencies have warned that the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is "catastrophic", calling for more international help as conditions deteriorate in the densely populated besieged enclave.
"Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the most recent hostilities," the UN agencies said in a joint statement on Saturday, adding, "It is now catastrophic. The world must do more."
"More than 1.6 million people in Gaza are in critical need of humanitarian aid," added the statement, which was signed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN children's agency (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP), the UN development agency (UNDP), and the world body's population fund, UNFPA.
Tehran says the history of the apartheid regime is full of assassinations, massacre, torture and killing of Palestinian kids, and described Tel Aviv regime's atrocities and massacre of Palestinian women and children as indicative of the destitute of Zionists. Iranian officials say the Tel Aviv regime has been struggling for more than 70 years to exit its identity crisis which has been mixed with genocide, plunder, forced displacement and scores of other inhumane moves.
