Iranian Ambassador asks speech at Georgian Parliament after “false accusations” by Israeli counterpart

Iranian Ambassador to Georgia Mahmoud Adib last week requested a speech at the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Georgian Parliament to respond to “false accusations” by Hadas Meitzad, the Israeli Ambassador to Georgia, made in the country’s legislative body on October 12, following Hamas’ attack on Israel earlier this month.

 

“In the spirit of fairness and diplomacy, I have formally requested [the Georgian Parliament Speaker] Shalva Papuashvili an equal opportunity to address the Foreign Relations Committee. It’s essential to clarify our stance after false accusations were made by the Ambassador of the Israeli regime”, said the diplomat in his Tweet. 

 

In her speech last week, the Israeli Ambassador said 1,300 people had been killed in the attack by the radical Islamist movement Hamas, and stressed the attack was directed “against “everything that Israel, Georgia, the United States and the rest of the civilized world believe in”.

 

The Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Nikoloz Samkharadze, expressed his support for the “friendly state” of Georgia in the fight against terrorism and once again confirmed the “unwavering will” of the Georgian people for a ‘high-level partnership” with Israel.

 

“We continue the practice of foreign Ambassadors coming to the Foreign Relations Committee to present their country’s foreign policy priorities. Our guest today is the Ambassador of our friendly state, Hadas Meitzad, and of course we wanted this hearing to be conducted in a peaceful environment. Unfortunately, a few days ago we saw a barbaric attack on Israel. A terrorist attack which, according to the latest information, claimed the lives of approximately 1,300 civilians. I would like to ask you to honor their memory with a minute’s silence”, said Samkharadze.

 

The Parliament of Georgia has not responded to the Iranian Ambassador’s request so far.

 

The Iranian Embassy believes that “Georgia is against occupation and will support the Palestinian people in their quest for freedom and justice.”

 

Earlier, the Iranian authorities expressed their readiness to join the Israel-Hamas war if the bombing of the Gaza Strip was not stopped. Israel’s command suggested that Iran’s involvement would be the opening of a “second front” by the radical group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and Syria.

 

The radical Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, sees Israel as an ”illegitimate and occupying state” that had occupied the Palestinian territory.

 

A rival to Hamas is the national administration of the Fatah party, which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, who is at the head of the Palestinian state partially recognized by the international community. His administration controls the West Bank of the Jordan River.

 

Hezbollah is recognized as a terrorist organization in Canada, the USA, Israel and Egypt, the League of Arab States, the countries of the Persian Gulf and also partially in the European Union, Australia and Great Britain.

 

Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization by Israel, Canada, the United States, Japan, the European Union, the Organization of American States, as well as a number of other countries.