IRAN AND GAZA

Iran's IRGC calls on Muslims to defend Gazans

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Sunday called on world Muslims to defend Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the official IRNA news agency reported. In a statement released on Sunday, IRGC invited world Muslims to "defend the oppressed Palestinians in Gaza Strip" and urged "Muslims of the world should stay united against world arrogance, the criminal Zionists in particular." The statement also asked Muslim nations "to line up against wicked party with more solidarity than ever", according to the report. Iran has incessantly called for wholesale support of Muslim world for Gazans and strongly condemned the silence of some Arab states which Iran says pave the way for Israel's further offense. On Friday, Iran's former president and influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani called on the Muslim Ummah (community) to assist Hamas with political, weaponry, monetary and propagandistic support. On Saturday, Israel's ground troops entered the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip for the second phase of its offensive on the militant group after eight days of airstrikes. Israel's military action, aimed at retaliating for Hamas rocket attacks into Israel, has killed some 480 Palestinians and wounded more than 2,400 others in the past eight days. Hamas is strongly backed by Iran which does not recognize Israel as a state of the international community. Source:Xinhua (This news from IRNA, Iran, 5 January 2009)