The
holy city of Jerusalem will not be Israel's capital no matter how
strongly US President Donald Trump wants it, Iranian politician Hossein
Sheikholeslam told Sputnik. According to Sheikholeslam, Washington is
deliberately fanning the flames in the Middle East which has just got
rid of the Daesh threat.
Even
if the US Embassy is moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the city will
never become the capital of Israel, says Hossein Sheikholeslam, former
adviser to Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Javad
Zarif and the leader of the organization "Freedom to Holy Jerusalem."
"First, no matter how much [US President Donald Trump] wants this, he will not succeed," Sheikholeslam told
Sputnik Iran,
commenting on Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's
capital. "Almost all countries of the world oppose the move… For its
part, Iran has also expressed its protest."
According to the Iranian politician, Trump's actions indicate that
the US president does not want to maintain peace and stability in the
Middle East and on the contrary, is destabilizing the situation in the
region.
"Now that we have got rid of Daesh, it is time
to create and restore peace and tranquility," Sheikholeslam said.
"However, the US is heating up a new cauldron of conflicts."
©
AFP 2017/ Jaafar ASHTIYEH
The
politician emphasized that practically all Islamic countries and states
with a predominantly Muslim population have opposed the recognition
of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, since this move will inevitably
trigger religious conflicts in the holy city. Therefore, the IRI "has
strongly condemned the US actions," he underscored.
"This is a real betrayal of Muslims and Christians of holy
Jerusalem — the cradle of all Abrahamic religions," he stressed,
"Jerusalem has always been, is and remains the capital of Palestine, not
the state of Israel."
On December 6,
Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital
and instructed the State Department to move the US Embassy to the city.
The transfer of the embassy was one of the US president's election
promises.
©
AP Photo/ Lefteris Pitarakis
Earlier,
on October 23, 1995 the US Congress passed the Jerusalem Embassy Act
which envisaged the relocation of the Embassy of the United States
in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, no later than May 31, 1999.
However,
the law remained unimplemented by the US leadership.
Trump's move has prompted
a wave of criticism worldwide.
Speaking to Sputnik, Basem Al-Aga, Palestinian ambassador to the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), highlighted that the US' decision "will
affect the stability not only of Palestine, but of the region and the
entire world."
"If there is no peace in Jerusalem, then
there will be none in the whole world," the ambassador said.
For his part, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynder stressed in an
interview with the broadcaster RTBF that the recognition of Jerusalem
"contradicts international law and the course that has been pursued
by the US administration previously."
Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) also
expressed its concerns over Washington's move, referring to the UNSC
Resolution 478 that stipulates that any solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian should be based on the mutual agreement on the final
status Jerusalem by all parties involved.
©
REUTERS/ Eliana Aponte/File Photo
Commenting
on the matter Zahir al-Harithi, head of the External Relations
Committee of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia,
told Sputnik
that the White House announcement has caused "a storm of discontent,
indignation and contempt," and dubbed the decision "extremely
dangerous."
According to Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, Trump's move is nothing short of
"restoration of justice." Berl Lazar noted that the ancient city of Jerusalem "has always been a Jewish capital."
On Wednesday the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov focused attention
on the fact that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital may
ruin the prospects for a peaceful settlement and threatens
to drive the wedge within the international community.
"We have to continue to search for a diplomatic solution, though, the situation definitely became complicated," Peskov said.
Previously, on April 6, 2017, the Russian Foreign Ministry
signaled its "commitment
to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement,
which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future
Palestinian state." The ministry stressed that in this context Russia
views "West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."
"The concrete parameters of a solution for the
entire range of issues regarding the status of Palestinian territories,
including Jerusalem, should be coordinated at the direct talks
between the parties involved," the statement said.