The Iranian regime on Sunday made efforts to drag the China-led BRICS economic coalition and Pope Francis into the Israel-Hamas war, on the side of the Hamas terrorists.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian sent letters to the foreign ministers of the BRICS nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — asking them to demand a ceasefire in Gaza where Israel is attacking the Hamas terrorist network.
Iran was one of six countries invited to join the BRICS coalition in August. The others were Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Saudi Arabia.
According to Iran’s state-run Tasnim News, Amirabdollahian is frantically pleading with “post-Western alliances like the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Union, SICA, ASEAN, and others” to step in and save Hamas from Israeli retaliation for the unspeakable atrocities of October 7th.
Those Hamas atrocities were so unspeakable that the Iranian foreign minister apparently did not mention them at all in his letter to BRICS and neither did Tasnim News. Both the Iranian official and Tehran’s state media talked only about Israel’s allegedly “genocidal attacks,” quoting highly dubious casualty figures from Hamas-run agencies as if they were reliable facts.
“Amirabdollahian also highlighted the illegal usurpation of Palestinian lands, mass killings, destruction of homes and farms, assaults on medical facilities, as well as the arrest, torture, and humiliation of the dignity of men, women, and even children by the Israeli regime,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi made a similar appeal to Pope Francis by telephone on Sunday, complete with Hamas casualty figures presented as verifiable fact, and allegations that Israel is committing “genocide” against the Palestinians.
In this handout provided by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), Pope Francis visits the Dome of the Rock on May 26, 2014, in Jerusalem, Israel. (Haim Zach – GPO /Getty Images)
As with Abdollahian’s missive to the BRICS nations, Raisi did not mention the Hamas atrocities of 10/7, or the latest round of Hamas crimes against humanity, including using civilians as human shields, stealing fuel and other supplies from civilians, and preventing civilians from evacuating after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) give advanced warnings of impending airstrikes.
Instead, Tasnim News depicted Raisi delivering a lengthy harangue about Israel to the pontiff, who has already issued several calls for a ceasefire — and for Hamas to release its hostages, another war crime Raisi forgot to mention:
Referring to reports from the international institutions that have called the Zionist regime an apartheid one, Raisi stated, “The bombing of the Gaza church and the destruction of this historical heritage of the Palestinian nation is one of the examples of apartheid practices not only against Palestinian Muslims but also against other divine religions, which is carried out with the support of American and several European countries.”
Supporting the oppressed people of Palestine today is the practice of the teachings of all Abrahamic religions, including Christians, the Iranian president added.
He then appreciated the position of the Catholic leader on the necessity for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and asked Pope Francis, considering his position in the West, to remind the Western countries that support this regime to speed up the cessation of these crimes, and play a role in correctly explaining the position of the oppressor and the oppressed.
“As the leader of the world’s Catholics I will do everything in my power to stop these attacks and prevent more women and children from becoming victims in Gaza,” the Pope responded to Raisi, according to Tasnim.
Pope Francis made another plea for a ceasefire on Sunday, and once again called on Hamas to release its hostages, especially the Israeli children it kidnapped.
“I keep thinking about the grave situation in Palestine and Israel where many people have lost their life. I pray you to stop in the name of god, cease the fire,” the Pope said to a crowd in St. Peter’s Square after weekly prayers.
“I hope that all will be done to avoid the conflict from widening, that the injured will be rescued and aid will arrive to the population of Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is very grave,” he said.
“Let’s think about the children, all the children involved in this war, like in Ukraine and in other conflicts, their future is being killed,” the Pope urged.
