Iran has leapt in on the side of the Palestinians in their clashes with the Israeli army and called for a mass Islamic uprising against the Jewish state, reported AFP.
Iran, the current chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), issued a call for a holy war after violence broke out between Israel and Palestinian demonstrators Friday at Jerusalem's mosque compound, the third holiest site in Islam, according to the agency.
"The only solution to the current conflict is to continue the jihad (holy war) against the enemies of Islam, and that will not stop," Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Sunday.
"If Muslim countries fail to support Palestine, it will harm them. The Zionists and Americans, despite appearances, are weakened, and their defeat is near," he said, as quoted by Iranian television.
Khamenei saluted the Palestinian "marytrs" and pledged that the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, would continue, added AFP.
"It will not shrink at anything, not at threats, not at bullets," he said.
Meanwhile, AFP reported that Iranian President Mohammed Khatami, who is in Cuba, sent a message to the Palestinians, in which he "condemned the aggression of the Zionist regime towards defenseless people."
"The great Islamic duty is to protect the Palestinians," Khatami said.
In Yemen, thousands took to the streets and called for holy war on Monday to protest against the killings of tens of Palestinians in clashes with Israeli troops over the past four days, according to Reuters.
Witnesses said prominent politicians led 9,000 demonstrators who gathered in the capital's main square to hear speakers denounce Israeli policies, said Reuters.
The demonstrators carried placards slamming "the Zionist suppression of Palestinians" and demanding "death to the Zionist cowards."
Security forces closed the main roads leading to the main Sabe'en square in central Sanaa, said Reuters - (Several Sources)
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