The United States, which claims to protect freedom and democracy, has shown that it is the perpetrator of the greatest crimes and the largest factor of instability in the world, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Saturday.
"Claimants for [defense] of freedom and democracy showed that they themselves are the perpetrators of the greatest crimes, racial discrimination and human rights offenses. It became clear to everyone that not only the US is not a factor of stability in any region of the world, but has been and is the greatest factor of instability and insecurity worldwide, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and other parts of the world," Raisi said at the Tehran International Conference on Palestine.
The Iranian president noted that the events in the Gaza Strip revealed the war mongering nature of the US and its hypocrisy, adding that the just solution to the Palestinian issue should be decided by the Palestinian people, including Muslims, Christians and Jews.
"Americans should not plan for the future of Gaza, because the future of this region will be determined by the people and its legal government," Raisi said.
On October 7, Palestinian movement Hamas launched a large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip, while its fighters breached the border, opening fire on the military and civilians. As a result, over 1,200 people in Israel were killed and some 240 others abducted. Israel launched retaliatory strikes, ordered a complete blockade of Gaza and launched a ground incursion into the Palestinian enclave with the declared goal of eliminating Hamas fighters and rescuing the hostages. Over 20,000 people have been killed so far in Gaza as a result of Israeli strikes, local authorities said.
On November 24, Qatar mediated a deal between Israel and Hamas on a temporary truce and the exchange of some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as the delivery of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire was extended several times and expired on December 1.
Russia has repeatedly called on both parties to stop hostilities, stating that the two-state solution approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem, is the only way to end the conflict.
The UN General Assembly voted in 1947 to divide UK-governed Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime. The partitioning was planned to take place in May 1948, when the British mandate was due to end, but only the state of Israel was established.