Iran, Saudi Arabia vow to expand cooperation, criticize Israel

Tehran, Feb 17 (IANS) Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud held a phone conversation, during which they vowed to expand bilateral cooperation and jointly slammed Israel over the situation in the Gaza Strip.

The Iranian Foreign Minister criticized the Israeli "crimes" against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as Israel's "threats" and actions against Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, which shelters more than 1.3 million displaced Palestinians, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We do not consider war as a solution, but if the issue is not immediately resolved politically, the negative consequences of Israel's continued genocide on the security and stability of the region will be inevitable," Amir-Abdollahian said, stressing the necessity for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to hold an emergency meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers to discuss the ongoing situation in Gaza.

The Saudi Foreign Minister welcomed his Iranian counterpart's proposal to hold an emergency meeting of the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers to stop Israel's "genocide," slamming Israel for ignoring international calls to end the crisis in Gaza.

The two ministers also underlined the necessity to expand bilateral cooperation in different economic and trade areas and, particularly, between the two countries' private sectors within the framework of international law, as well as the importance of continuing bilateral contacts and consultations.

Israel has been fighting with Hamas in the Gaza Strip since October 7, after the group launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people. So far 28,775 Palestinians have been killed by the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry said on Friday.

Since Monday, Israel has launched airstrikes against Rafah and indicated that it is set to launch a ground operation in the city.