Tehran, Iran: Iranians will “resist” the Trump administration’s acceptance of Israeli control over the occupied Golan Heights, Iran’s president said on Friday, adding his voice to that of many Arab nations, including a number of US allies, who have denounced the US decision.
Tunisia, meanwhile, said it would coordinate with fellow Arab countries to contain the fallout from the US decision.
Hassan Rouhani said the US move is “trampling on international regulations about the Golan.” Iranians, too, “should resist and that way gain victory” over the US and Israel, he said.
Israel seized the Golan in the 1967 Mideast War after Syria used the strategic plateau to shell northern Israel for years.
President Donald Trump’s formal recognition last week of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan sparked widespread international condemnation. The announcement signalled a major shift in American policy and gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a political boost ahead of April elections.
Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui spoke to a meeting of Arab ministers ahead of the annual Arab League summit, on the issue. The summit was hosted this year by Tunisia is likely to focus on Washington’s decision and its earlier move to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
“We will work with fellow Arab countries and the international community to contain the expected repercussions of this decision in the various regional and international forums,” Jhinaoui told the meeting in Tunis.
Syria and many other Arab states heavily criticised Trump’s move.
Read the article in the Brisbane Times (AP, Reuters).