TEHRAN -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian has described the occupying regime of Israel as the root cause of all problems plaguing the Middle East, saying the few Arab countries that have chosen normalization with the regime are moving against regional security and interests of Muslim nations.
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a telephone conversation with the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, on Tuesday night.
Iran’s top diplomat congratulated Haniyeh on the 34th anniversary of the movement’s establishment, saying, “Hamas is among the pioneers of the Islamic resistance front for the liberation of Holy Al-Quds, and plays a pivotal role in restoring the historical rights of Palestinians.”
Amir-Abdollahian also denounced the British parliament’s “terror” designation for Hamas as a politically-motivated measure against the entire Palestinian nation.
“The bogus Zionist regime is the root cause of the region’s troubles; therefore, the few regional countries that are on the path of normalizing relations with the regime are moving in an opposite direction to the security and interests of the region and the Muslim Ummah (nation),” the Iranian foreign minister said.
For his part, Haniyeh appreciated Iran’s all-out support for Palestinians as well as the nation’s anti-occupation cause and resistance movements.
The Hamas leader condemned some Arab regional states over normalization agreements with Israel, calling such a trend a U.S.-Israeli project.
He also slammed United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials for receiving Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett in Abu Dhabi last week.
“We did not expect Arab countries to embrace Zionist assassins, whose hands are stained with the blood of the Palestinian people,” Haniyeh added.
The Zionist prime minister met the UAE’s de facto ruler on Monday. He became the first leader of the Israeli regime to visit the Persian Gulf state, more than a year after the two sides agreed to establish formal relations under a U.S.-brokered deal.
Bennett had a meeting with Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Sheikh Muhammad

bin Zayed Al Nahyan (MBZ) at his private palace, Israeli officials said, following the premier’s arrival in the Emirati capital late on Sunday.
The UAE was among four Arab countries that agreed to normalize ties with Israel under US-brokered deals in 2020.
Palestinians, who seek an independent state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Al-Quds as its capital, view the deals as a betrayal of their cause.