BAKU -- Iran and 12 other delegations staged a dramatic walkout at a summit in Baku on Thursday to protest Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s address, as Tehran called for Israel’s expulsion from the forum.
The walkout at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) was joined by delegations from Palestine, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh — 13 delegations representing nearly half of the 28 attending the summit.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, addressing the summit, urged member states to expel Israel from CICA, describing it as “the main source of insecurity and instability in Asia” and calling on members “not to remain silent over the regime’s crimes.”
Gharibabadi also described the United States and Israel as “the world’s greatest sources of insecurity and lawlessness,” warning that “their aggression would spread to all independent countries if the international community failed to stop them.” 
He said Washington has acted as though it were above the law, undermining international mechanisms, while Israel — which is not a party to international disarmament and arms-control treaties — has developed various types of weapons of mass destruction. 
He condemned Israel’s military aggression against neighboring countries and other states across West Asia, calling it “a symbol of aggression and wrongdoing in the region and beyond.”
CICA was proposed in 1992 by then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to promote cooperation and confidence-building measures across Asia.
The Baku walkout echoed a similar protest at the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, when delegations from nearly 70 countries walked out or left their seats vacant as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his address. 
Both protests came amid mounting international condemnation of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the devastating toll it has taken on Palestinian civilians.
Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the Colombian government’s decision to open an embassy in occupied Al-Quds, saying the move violates the UN Charter, fundamental principles of international law and the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. 
In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry stressed that Al-Quds is an inseparable part of Palestinian territory and that “all governments are obligated under international law to refrain from actions that recognize the Israeli regime’s occupation.”
“The alignment of Colombia’s current governing authorities with