Iranian delegates walked out of UN climate talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday in protest of the presence of Israeli representatives, according to state media.
The Iranian delegation, led by Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying that Israel’s presence at COP28 was “contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue.”
The Iranian foreign minister and his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, spoke by phone on Thursday about the latest developments in Gaza following the second extension of a ceasefire after weeks of deadly Israeli strikes on Palestinians, according to Iranian media.
Also, Iran has blamed Israel and the United States for a resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
“After killing more than 15,000 Palestinians, the Zionist vampires have started a new round of killing under the continued support of the American government,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Deadly fighting recommenced in Gaza on Friday immediately after the expiration of a seven-day truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas militants.
Kanani added that “the political and legal responsibility for the continuation of the aggression and massacre” rests with Israel, the US and “a few governments that support this apartheid regime.”
On Thursday, US top diplomat Antony Blinken, meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials, called for the pause in hostilities to be extended, and warned any resumption of combat must protect Palestinian civilians.
Other world leaders, and aid groups, had also sought an extended pause.
“The nations and the vast majority of the governments of the world are shouting for the continuation of the ceasefire and the complete stop to the Zionist regime’s attacks against Gaza and the West Bank,” Kanani said.
The truce had paused fighting that began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed across Gaza’s militarised border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas by launching air strikes and a ground military campaign in the Palestinian territory, where the Hamas-run health ministry said nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, were killed before the truce.
Iran, which has labelled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a genocide, has denied any direct involvement in Hamas’s attack on Israel.
During the truce, mediated by Qatar with Egyptian and American support, 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.