THE Iranian President Ibrahim Raishi call today them Muslim and Arab countries to ‘coordinate’ to ‘stop Israel’s crimes’ against Gazathe Iranian presidency announced today.

“Today, all Muslim and Arab countries and all free peoples of the earth should unite and coordinate to stop the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation,” Raisi said in a telephone conversation late yesterday, Wednesday , in the evening with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Al-Assad, according to today’s announcement by the Iranian presidency.

“On this basis, the Islamic Republic of Iran will try to achieve this coordination as soon as possible by contacting the leaders of Muslim countries,” he added.

In the conversation he had with the Syrian president, Raisi pointed out that “contrary to all international treaties”, the Israelis are “besieging Gaza and depriving the oppressed residents of water, electricity, medicine and fuel”.

The Iranian president also denounced “the continuation of the genocide of the Palestinians,” according to the Iranian presidency.

For his part, Syrian President Assad underlined “the need for quick action” by Arab and Muslim countries “to protect the Palestinian people” and “to stop Israeli raids targeting children and women” in Gaza, according to the Syrian state television networks.

Iran was one of the first countries to welcome Saturday’s bloody surprise attack on Israel by Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist movement that Tehran has openly defended for years.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Tuesday denied his country’s involvement in the attack.

The Iranian president also contacted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to Iranian and Saudi media.

Saudi Arabia-Iran leaders contact

Saudi media reported today that the Saudi crown prince and the Iranian president discussed the war between Israel and Hamas by telephone yesterday, in their first telephone contact since the sudden rapprochement in March between Riyadh and Tehran.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader received a phone call from the Iranian president yesterday in which they discussed “the current military situation in Gaza and its surroundings,” the official Saudi news agency SPA reported.

The Saudi crown prince told his Iranian counterpart that Riyadh was “communicating with all international and regional sides to put an end to the current escalation,” according to SPA. He also underlined “the kingdom’s strong position in favor of the Palestinian cause,” he added.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency also reported on the phone call, noting that the two leaders discussed the “need to end war crimes against Palestine.”

Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on Saturday, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli forces. In the Gaza Strip, 1,200 people, many of them civilians, were killed in retaliatory Israeli airstrikes, according to local authorities.

At the same time, fears are growing for the fate of at least 150 hostages — Israelis, but also foreigners and citizens with dual citizenship — held by Hamas in Gaza.

The conflict also casts doubt on a historic potential deal to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which was floated as a possibility last month by Mohammed bin Salman.

In the process led by the US government, Riyadh was negotiating for security guarantees and assistance from Washington to develop a civilian nuclear program.

Saudi Arabia and Iran announced in March the normalization of relations, ending a seven-year rift, thanks to a deal brokered by China.

The 38-year-old crown prince of Saudi Arabia also had a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday. In it he stated that he was developing “unceasing efforts for regional and international communication to achieve coordination that would allow an end to the current escalation”.

The Saudi leader sent a similar message to French President Emmanuel Macron, stressing that Riyadh is working “to create the conditions for stability and to restore the path to peace and to ensure that the Palestinian people can exercise justice and his legitimate rights,” according to a Foreign Ministry statement posted on social media this morning.

He also stressed to the French president that Riyadh rejects actions “that target civilians or disrupt infrastructure and vital interests that affect their daily lives.”