Nakba anniversary: Iran reaffirms Palestinian right to self-determination, urges end Gaza genocide

On the occasion of Nakba anniversary, Iran reiterates the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and recalls the legal and moral responsibility of the international community to stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza, end the occupation, and hold Israeli criminals accountable.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the "catastrophic consequences" of the occupation of Palestine in 1948 continue to haunt West Asia and the whole world.

“Seventy-eight years ago on this day, one of the gravest human and moral tragedies of the modern era began with the establishment of the artificial Zionist entity in the historic land of Palestine, the catastrophic consequences of which continue to affect West Asia and the wider world.”

Nakba Day stands as a reminder of the conspiracy against humanity in Palestine and West Asia, whose direct consequences have been chronic insecurity, lawlessness, and the normalization of aggression and crimes, the statement read.

“Over the past eight decades, the most egregious violations of international law have been committed by the Zionist regime.”

Supported by the US, Britain, Canada, Germany, and other Western European countries, the occupying regime has perpetrated the most heinous international crimes in occupied Palestine, the statement added.

“In recent years, the colonial project aimed at the eradication of Palestine has entered a new phase,” the statement continued.

It added that using the deadliest weapons supplied by the US and its Western accomplices, the occupying regime has carried out a brutal genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, where more than 72,000 people have been killed, and millions were displaced.

“The crimes committed by the Israeli regime constitute clear examples of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide,” according to the statement.

While international judicial bodies have sought to prosecute and punish Israeli criminals, unlawful pressure exerted by Washington against international courts has obstructed the course of justice against the leaders of the genocidal regime, rendering successive US administrations complicit in the genocide of Palestinians, it explained.

“Iran, alongside all freedom-seeking nations and peoples, reaffirms the undeniable right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation and apartheid, strongly condemns the crimes of the Zionist regime, and categorically rejects any plan involving the forced displacement of the people of Gaza and the West Bank from their homeland,” the statement emphasized.

Iran further reiterates its principled and unwavering position in support of the legitimate right of the Palestinian nation to resist occupation and aggression, the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland, and the establishment of an independent and unified Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, it stressed.

“Iran believes that the steadfast resistance of the Palestinian people and the awakening of global consciences will ultimately lead to the full liberation of Palestine and the realization of the historic rights of its people,” it concluded.

On May 15, Palestinians mark the anniversary of the Nakba — the mass displacement that followed the illegal creation of Israel in 1948.

More than 750,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee their homes as Zionist terrorists seized towns and villages across historic Palestine.

Hundreds of communities were erased, looted, or destroyed. Families became refugees overnight. Israel barred their return and built an illegal entity over their ruins.

Seventy-eight years later, millions of Palestinians remain stateless or under occupation, blockade, and military rule.

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