Iran says displacement of Palestinians threatens Middle East

Iran's top diplomat has said a proposal by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians out of the war-battered Gaza Strip represents a threat to stability and security in the Middle East.

"Forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza is part of a scheme to eliminate Palestine in a colonial manner," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a late Saturday phone call with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty, according to an Iranian statement.

Trump's proposal for the United States to take over Gaza and relocate its inhabitants was first unveiled on Tuesday during a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sparking widespread condemnation.


Araghchi said the plan "poses a serious threat to the stability and security" in the region.

The US president has suggested that Gazans could resettle in Egypt or Jordan. Both government have strongly rejected such a move.

According to Araghchi, "it is essential that Islamic countries take a firm and unified stance against this project."

Araghchi on Saturday also held talks with his counterparts from Tunisia and Turkey regarding the situation in Gaza, according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

The minister's discussions followed a meeting between Hamas officials and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran earlier on Saturday.

It was the first such meeting since a fragile truce in the Israel-Hamas war went into effect on January 19, halting more than 15 months of war.

Iran, a staunch supporter of Hamas, has long championed the Palestinian cause as a cornerstone of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Tehran does not recognise Israel.