Israeli regime enemy of humanity: President Raeisi tells Azeri defense minister

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi calls the Israeli regime "the enemy of humanity," citing Tel Aviv's atrocities against the peoples of region as a case in point.

"This regime can never be a friend to Muslim nations," the chief executive said in Tehran on Wednesday during a meeting with Azerbaijan's visiting Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov.

"The Zionists' occupation and incursions throughout the region and against the Palestinian nation is a testament to this fact," Raeisi added.

The Israeli regime claimed existence in 1948 after occupying huge swathes of Palestinian territories during a Western-backed war.

It occupied more land in another such war in 1967. Ever since, it has built hundreds of settlements upon the overrun territories and deployed the most aggressive restrictions on the movements of Palestinians there.

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The regime withdrew from the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip in 2005, but started taking the coastal sliver under a crippling siege and regular military attacks only two years later.

Raeisi also considered the Israeli regime and the United States to be responsible for the emergence of Takfiri terrorist groups in the region, including the Daesh outfit.

"These [terrorist] groups have been created by the Americans and Zionists, and have committed criminal activities, wherever they have established a presence," he added.

Daesh emerged in Iraq and neighboring Syria in 2014 amid the chaos that had resulted from the US's 2003-then occupation of Iraq.

Numerous regional officials and reports would, meanwhile, warn about the American military's provision of assistance for the Takfiris, including through dropping weapons for them and even relocating them to various locations across the region.

The Israeli regime would provide safe haven and medical treatment for those of the terrorists who would escape Damascus and its allies' defensive operations to Syria's Golan Heights, which is under Israeli occupation.

Iran-Azerbaijan ties

The Iranian president also said the Islamic Republic was prepared to share its technical and engineering advances with the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The countries' ties, he said, were beyond simple "conventional bilateral ties" and rather featured a "deep relationship between two nations" that is based on their common religious beliefs that have grown strong over history.

"Iran's policy relies on extensive cooperation with its neighbors, especially Azerbaijan," he added.

Speaking during a televised interview on Tuesday, Raeisi said a trip that he had made to Azerbaijan after assuming Iran's presidency last year had led to positive developments in Tehran’s economic relations with the ex-Soviet republic.

Hasanov, for his part, described his meetings so far with Iranian officials as beneficial, fruitful, and a precursor for further bilateral cooperation.

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