TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says the Zionist regime is committing the worst kind of "state-sponsored terrorism.”
Berri made the remarks as the first foreign guest to address the 6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada (Uprising) in Tehran.
"Settlement expansion by the Israeli regime is the worst kind of state-sponsored terrorism,” he said.
The Zionist regime’s parliament on February 6 rubber-stamped the so-called "Legalization Bill,” which retroactively legalized structures built on Palestinian land. The move came barely two months after the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution declaring that settlement construction "constitutes a flagrant violation under international law.”
"It’s time to put decisions into action and reach a consensus on a solution to the issue of Palestine,” Berri said.
Addressing the issue of frequent arrests across the occupied territories by Zionist troops, he said 39 Palestinian officials were in the Zionist regime’s custody.
The top Lebanese parliamentarian also described the potential transfer of the United States’ embassy from Tel Aviv to al-Quds as a means of endorsing the regime’s claim to the city as "the capital of its future state.” The Palestinians want the eastern part of the city as the capital of their country.
Arab countries must close embassies in Washington if the U.S. proceeds with the move, he said.
Berri also urged "unity among Palestinian groups,” calling it "the most urgent issue that needs to be addressed at this point in time.”
"I praise what the Islamic Republic has done for Palestine. Iran is being targeted because of its support for Palestine,” the official said.
The next person to address the colloquium was the head of the Palestinian resistance movement of Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Abdullah.
"The Palestinian nation will continue resisting the Zionist regime with all that it has” and is ready to stand against "any aggression” coming from the regime, he said.
Abdullah also described the Palestinian Authority as being in cahoots with the regime, citing the Authority’s security cooperation with Tel Aviv. "We reject any negotiation or security cooperation with Israel,” he said.
Oman’s Parliament Speaker Khalid al-Mawali, also a guest at the conference, then took the floor, calling the regime’s actions a threat to the entire world.
"The international community should be aware that Israelis are ignoring and violating all international and humanitarian laws,” Mawali said.
Malaysian Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia also slammed Tel Aviv’s ratification of the "Legalization Bill” as "unbelievable.”
The three-day event opened in the Iranian capital earlier in the day and was officially inaugurated with an address by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Lebanon’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri addresses the 6th International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada (Uprising), in Tehran, February 21, 2017.