Turkiye presses UN for arms embargo on Israel in joint letter

Israeli military vehicles operate during an Israeli raid in Tulkarm, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, October 31, 2024. (Reuters)
Short Url
Updated 03 November 2024
Follow

Turkiye presses UN for arms embargo on Israel in joint letter

  • “We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel,” said Hakan Fidan at a press conference in Djibouti

ANKARA: Turkiye’s foreign ministry said Sunday it had submitted a letter to the United Nations, signed by 52 countries and two organizations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel.
“We have written a joint letter calling on all countries to stop the sale of arms and ammunition to Israel. We delivered this letter, which has 54 signatories, to the UN on November 1,” said Hakan Fidan at a press conference in Djibouti, where he was attending a Turkiye-Africa partnership summit.
“We must repeat at every opportunity that selling arms to Israel means participating in its genocide,“” said Fidan who added that the letter is “an initiative launched by Turkiye.”

Among the signatories was Brazil, Algeria, China, and Russia, with the two organisations being the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the UN to impose an arms embargo on Israel, which he said would be an “effective solution” to end the conflict in the Gaza Strip.


Trump says he thinks Iran’s new supreme leader is alive but ‘damaged’

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Trump says he thinks Iran’s new supreme leader is alive but ‘damaged’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said that he thinks new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father, the former supreme leader, was killed on the first day of the US and Israel’s war on Iran, is alive but “damaged.”

Khamenei has not been seen by Iranians since his selection on Sunday by a clerical assembly, and his first comments were read out by a television presenter on Thursday.

An Iranian said on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but was continuing to operate, after state television described him as war-‌wounded.

“I think he probably is (alive). I think he is damaged, but I think he’s probably alive in some form, you know,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Brian Kilmeade Show.” His remarks were published by Fox News late on Thursday.

In Khamenei’s first comments, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.

The US and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28. Iran has responded with its own strikes on Israel ‌and Gulf ⁠countries with US bases.

As the war approached the two-week mark, having killed thousands and shaken financial markets, the leaders of Iran, Israel and the United States all voiced defiance and have vowed to fight on.