Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif has canceled a visit to Vienna to protest the hoisting of a flag in solidarity with Israel.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry said that the Iranian Foreign Minister had canceled a visit to meet with his Austrian counterpart, expressing displeasure over the hoisting of the Israeli flag in Vienna in support of Israel by the government of Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
A spokesman for the Austrian Foreign Ministry confirmed the news, saying that Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif was expected to meet with Alexander Scheinberg during his visit to Austria, but he canceled the visit.
“We apologize for this and have taken note, but it is clear to us that we will not remain silent when Hamas fires 2,000 rockets at the civilian population in Israel,” the spokesman said.
Hamas is the ruling party in Gaza and recently launched rocket attacks against Israeli operations, killing several people, while Israel’s atrocities continue.
During the visit, the Iranian foreign minister was due to hold talks in Vienna on resuming the 2015 nuclear deal, which eased sanctions on Iran, while Iran agreed to suspend its nuclear program.
Former US President Donald Trump announced his withdrawal from the agreement with Iran in 2018, but now Biden has decided to negotiate to restore the agreement.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz is a staunch supporter of Israel and has ordered the hoisting of the Israeli flag in the Chancellor’s offices to show solidarity with Israel.
Syed Abbas Araqchi, who led the Iranian delegation to Vienna, strongly criticized the Austrian government’s move.
“Vienna is a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations and has been the best host of talks so far,” he said on the social networking site Twitter.
“I am shocked and saddened by the flag hoisting of the occupying government at government offices in Vienna because they have killed innocent civilians, including children, in just a few days,” said Abbas Araqchi.
Israeli attacks on Gaza
It should be noted that since the beginning of Ramadan, a series of attacks and other acts of violence by the Israelis on the Palestinians had begun in occupied Jerusalem, while tensions in the most sacred city for the world’s three major religions have risen.
Violence in Occupied Jerusalem since Friday (May 7th) is the worst since 2017, with long-running efforts by Jewish settlers to evict several Palestinian families from the area of ​​Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.
Recent attacks on Palestinians by Israeli forces have been going on since the night of May 7, when Palestinians were worshiping at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan, and 205 Palestinians were injured in the attack by Israeli forces.
The next day, May 8, worship was resumed at Al-Aqsa Mosque, but according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, Israeli forces carried out violent operations in the eastern part of Jerusalem, injuring 121 more Palestinians, most of them with rubber bullets and grenades were hurled, while Israeli forces said 17 of their men were wounded.
Later, on May 9, hundreds of Palestinians were injured as a result of renewed violence by Israeli forces near the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
On the morning of May 10, Israeli forces once again resorted to violence near Al-Aqsa Mosque, injuring 395 more Palestinians, more than 200 of whom were taken to hospital for treatment.
Gaza’s health ministry said on May 12 that the death toll from Israeli airstrikes had risen to 48, including 14 children, and that more than 300 had been injured.
On the other hand, 6 Israelis were also killed while about 1500 rockets were fired from Gaza and various places in Israel were targeted.
According to the United Nations Office for Human Rights, between May 7 and 10, 1,000 Palestinians were injured in violence by Israeli forces in East Jerusalem.