Rohani Calls On Muslim World To Cut Ties With Israel, Curb Ties With U.S.

Iranian President Hassan Rohani is calling on Muslim countries to cut off relations with Israel and "revise" their trade and economic ties with the United States after Washington moved its embassy to Jerusalem this week.

At a summit of Muslim countries convened by Turkey in Istanbul on May 18, Rohani called the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which recently withdrew from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers and reimposed sanctions on Iran, a "dangerous threat" to global peace and security.

Rohani said Muslim nations should consider "revising" political and economic ties with Washington, and called on the Muslim world to "cut ties" with Israel and boycott it through trade.

"If Israel faces a united front of Islamic nations, it will never be able to continue its crimes," Rohani said. He said a "new and young generation of Palestinians is aware of their rights and has no intention to withdraw or compromise."

It was a rare show of unity between Shi'a-ruled Iran and Sunni-led Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations that have been feuding with Tehran over its involvement in the Syrian civil war, support for Huthi rebels in Yemen, and other matters.

The Muslim leaders at the end of the summit issued a statement condemning Israel's killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters during the inauguration of the new U.S. embassy in Jerusalem a "provocation" against the entire Islamic world.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on the United Nations to establish a peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip ruled by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, to prevent further killings.

The world "must stop watching the massacres from the bleachers," he said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah criticized the United States for becoming "part of the problem and not the solution" with its Jerusalem move.