TEHRAN – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in the Saudi capital for a summit of Muslim and Arab leaders on the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.

This is the first visit by an Iranian president to Saudi Arabia since the resumption of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh under a Chinese-brokered agreement last March. Also, Raisi’s current trip to Saudi Arabia is the first visit by an Iranian president to Saudi Arabia in 11 years. 

The extraordinary summit of the leaders of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) was held in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon. 

President Raisi spoke to reporters before leaving Tehran for Riyadh on Saturday morning. He said the OIC summit should not be a platform for declaring positions. Instead, it should result in actions on Gaza. 

Raisi called the holding of an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and reaching a fully operational and executive decision about Gaza the expectation of all the people of the world, especially the Islamic Ummah, according to the official website of the Iranian presidency. 

“This platform is not one for mere speech and announcement of positions, but must be a platform for action to quickly stop the bombings, lift the blockade of Gaza, and open the way to help the oppressed and authoritative people of this region, as well as to achieve the rights of the Palestinians, which was basically the main philosophy of the establishment of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” he said.

President Raisi stated that the main purpose of his trip to Saudi Arabia was to participate in the emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation on the Palestinian issue.

Referring to the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran to hold this meeting immediately since the beginning of the Zionist regime's invasion of Gaza, he said, “The issue of Palestine is the main issue of the Islamic Ummah and the Muslims of the world, but it is also the issue of humanity and all the people of understanding and thinking all over the world who have taken to the streets in millions these days and they shout about the oppression of the Zionist regime and the support of the Americans for this genocide.”

President Raisi stated that the crimes committed by the Zionist regime in Gaza today are a clear example of war crimes and crimes against humanity, adding, “The Americans claim in their statements and messages that they are not looking to expand the domain of the war, while this claim is not compatible with their actions at all, because the fuel of the Zionist war machine is provided by the Americans.”

He described the U.S. efforts to obstruct a ceasefire in Gaza at various meetings including at the UN Security Council as examples of the Americans lying about recent events. “Today the world should see the main face of the Americans, to see how, as stated by the Supreme Leader of the Revolution, they are the main supporter of crimes against the oppressed nations with good appearance and velvet hands,” he continued.

President Raisi also referred to the special attention and prominence of the Palestine issue at the summit of the ECO and the side meetings of this summit in Tashkent, and by stating that the meeting of the Islamic Cooperation Organization is one of the manifestations of unity among Islamic countries, he expressed hope that convergence, cooperation and cohesion of Islamic countries will be achieved in this meeting, which can lead to solving this problem.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told reporters ahead of the summit that the president would put forward “important” proposals to address the on-going Israeli war against civilians in Gaza. 

The proposals are focused on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, prevention of forced displacement, and the fact that Hamas forces in the besieged Palestinian territory are only fighting for freedom. The top Iranian diplomat declared it was the Iranian president that requested the emergency meeting, adding that Saudi Arabian officials acted cooperatively and heeded the request.

“The president will be holding bilateral meetings with some of the influential leaders of the region during this short trip,” the foreign minister stated. He noted that the emergency OIC meeting will focus a strong and fierce response to warmongers in the region. 

“Despite Washington’s full presence in the war against the freedom-seeking resistance forces in Gaza, Netanyahu has suffered a second huge defeat,” wrote Amir Abdollahian on X, formerly known as twitter.