TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh has reacted to an Israeli attack on worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, condemning the attack in the strongest terms. 

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Khatibzadeh said, “This violation, which took place on the eve of Eid al-Adha, is strongly condemned and the Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its disgust with it.”

He added, “Once again, the Zionists have shown that the Palestinians and the Muslim world are left with no choice to liberate the Holy Quds but resistance. The united voice of the Islamic world can certainly help in this regard.”

He also said Iran will do its part to prevent the Israelis from desecrating the holy site. “The Islamic Republic of Iran will continue all its efforts to unite the Islamic world in order to prevent these aggressions,” Khatibzadeh said. 

Israeli occupation forces, along with scores of Israeli settler fanatics, broke into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on early Sunday morning attacking worshipers at the holy site and detaining many of them while firing tear gas canisters and stun grenades into the worshipers, Palestinian News and Info Agency (WAFA) reported.

Early in the morning, dozens of Israeli police officers started raiding the holy site through the Chain and Moroccan gates, before they embarked on beating and assaulting the Muslim worshipers attending prayers at the holy site in an effort to make way for the entry of hundreds of Israeli settlers there, WAFA said. The police locked down the southern main building inside the holy site, and hundreds of worshipers were left inside and were unable to leave. Groups of Israeli settlers later broke into the courtyards after it was almost emptied of all Muslim worshipers by force. Israeli extremist groups have called on settlers to force their way into the Al-Aqsa complex in large numbers on July 18, on the occasion of the anniversary of what Israel calls “the destruction of the temple.”