(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Mideast Iran Quds Day

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a press release saying that the Palestinian issue and pursuing a strategy for the destruction of Israel are the Muslims world’s top priorities.

According to Iran’s Tansim news agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described “the Zionist regime” as the common enemy of Islamic nations, and it’s destruction remain a top priority of the Muslim world.

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan accused Israel of giving support to ISIS in order to “occupy the land from the Nile to the Euphrates,” referring to a common anti-Israel conspiracy theory.

He said that Israel supports Sunni terrorist groups in order to sow discord between Muslims and that Quds Day is strategically important in foiling this “evil plot.”

Hassan Rouhani

Iranian President Rouhani linked Quds Day with the nuclear negotiations. (AP/Ebrahim Noroozi)

President Hassan Rouhani issued his own statement ahead of Quds Day, calling it an opportunity for people to “express their disgust at the Zionist regime,” which he accused of supporting al-Qaeda affiliates in the region.

Rouhani linked the day with the nuclear negotiations, saying, “Participation of [Iranian] people at the Quds Day [rallies] amid the negotiations will be sort of strong support for their own rights and dignity.”

Nonetheless, the P5+1 has made clear that its sole goal in the nuclear negotiations is to reach an agreement to limit temporarily Iran’s nuclear program rather than to address Iran’s destructive role in the Middle East.

“The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognizing Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms,” said US President Barack Obama to NPR in April. “And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment.”

By: Sara Abramowicz, United with Israel