TEHRAN - Iranian Judiciary chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani said on Sunday that the Palestine issue is a criterion to gauge claims being made about human rights.

The top judge made the remarks in an address to an international conference on solidarity with the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Calling Palestine the first priority of the world of Islam, Amoli Larijani said the Palestinian issue should not be restricted to the war between Palestinian people and the Zionist regime of Israel.

The current situation in Palestine is a “big laboratory” to see if the domineering powers’ claims on the human rights are “true”, he noted.

He added Iran has always supported Palestine’s “oppressed people” in their struggle against the Zionist regime.

Senior officials in some countries in the Middle East region have turned countering the Zionist regime into countering Iran, he added.

Elsewhere, the ayatollah said Western countries have no right to impose their interpretation of human rights on other countries.

The arrogant powers use human rights as a tool to achieve their anti-human rights’ objectives, he noted.

‘Palestine is issue of humanity’

The director of the Leader’s office for international affairs also told the conference that Palestine has turned into an issue of all divine religions and humanity as a whole.

“The issue of Palestine is the most important issue for the world of Islam, and also the joint problem in all divine religions; in other words it is an issue of the entire humanity,” Hajjtoleslam Mohsen Qomi remarked.

Palestine has turned into a scene of fight between resistance and occupation.

He went on to say when the Arab nationalism receded, the United States breathed a sigh of relief and prior to the Islamic revolution the shah regime was an ally of Israel and in that situation the Americans imagined that the Palestinian issue has been forgotten.

However, with the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran the Americans found out that there was no alternative other than being engaged in a full-scale war against the resistance movement.

He said Israel is the “representative” of the hegemonic system in the region.

To counter the resistance front the U.S. has not stood idle by, he pointed out.

“Their most important plot is fanning the flames of religious sectarianism and launching war between Shia and Sunni.” 

He also pointed to Saudi officials’ ill-advised policy toward the resistance movement and Iran, saying, “Now Saudis speak more bluntly… and instead of struggle against Israel they speak about animosity with Iran.”

However, he said, Iran will not be dragged into the trap of religious war.

The cleric politician said now the U.S. is working hard to create a kind of interaction between certain mercenary regimes in the region with Israel with the aim of undermining the resistance movement.

He also said the enemies are seeking to destroy the infrastructure projects in Islamic countries and they have done this in Yemen and Syria.

“Today, those who are fighting against the Syrian people and Hezbollah are standing against Islam and serving the U.S.”

He went on to say that the Palestinian issue must remain the first priority of Muslims in the world and in this campaign the non-governmental organizations should also come to the help of Palestinians.

Also the Palestinians’ military power should be increased because they are facing an enemy who “only understands the language of force”.

“Today in Gaza people are producing their weapons for struggle against Israelis and Hezbollah and Hamas are also very active in military activities.”

Hezbollah chief: Israel is greatest threat to region

In a message to the conference Hezbollah Secretary General Seyed Hassan Nasrallah also said Israel is still the main danger threatening the region and the Muslim world.

“Certain people feel that Israel is merely a threat to the Palestinians and poses no danger to other governments and nations,” Nasrallah said in a message to the conference, according to Fars news agency.

Although Israel is not as strong as the past thanks to the resistance movements' sacrifices and victories, he said, the Tel Aviv regime still enjoys power in that region and threatens the regional nations.

“All of us should strive to say to the nations that Israel, its goals and threats are still a danger,” Nasrallah said.

Speaking on the same conference, Zahra Mostafavi, the secretary general of the NGO Union for Supporting the Palestinian Rights, said half of the Palestinians are displaced while the other half are being oppressed by Zionists in their homeland.

Palestine must be the most important issue for the Muslim world but it is not, Mostafavi lamented.

She pointed to a recent OIC summit in Istanbul in which Hezbollah, which has been struggling against the Zionist regime, was condemned.

“It is now the right time for all Muslim countries to stand up in support of Palestinian people,” she added. 

NA/PA