Iran’s Abdollahian: ‘Israel’ Equates Deash

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian equated the Zionist entity to the Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist ‘ISIS or ISIL] after an “Israeli” air strike killed and injured a large number of displaced people sheltering at the compound of the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza City.

The bombing of the historic Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza where women and children had taken shelter is the latest crime on part of the occupying apartheid regime,” Amir Abdollahian said in a post on his X account.

He further stated: “The savagery of this pariah regime and its acts of aggression and desecration of divine religions as well as its onslaught against the historical and cultural heritage of humanity are all similar to [the ways of] uncivilized terror groups and Daesh.”

Officials in Gaza reported on Friday that at least 16 Christian Palestinians were among the dead in the 12th-century church where many Christian and Muslim Gaza residents had taken refuge as the war raged in the enclave.

Saint Porphyrius, built in about 1150, is the oldest church still in use in Gaza. Located in an historic neighborhood of Gaza City, the church offered sanctuary to people of various faiths over generations.