Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi (L) and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan attend a joint press conference in Ankara on January 24. (Photo by Iranian presidency)

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi has called for the reform of the United Nations and other global bodies, lamenting that they have failed to prevent the Israeli genocide in Gaza.

He made the call in a joint presser with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which was held following a two-hour meeting between the two at the presidential palace in Ankara on Wednesday.

Those who claim to defend human rights and whose mission is to defend global peace and security have been on the sidelines and are no longer effective, he said

The president called the Palestinian issue the top issue of humanity and said the entire world is shocked by the extent of death and destruction in Gaza.

Raeisi said it’s a tragedy that the US is officially supporting the Israeli genocide and is practically complicit in the war.

It is a great tragedy that America officially backs the Zionist regime. In fact, it is the United States that commits these crimes, and it is more unfortunate that the unions, international organizations, and the United Nations have lost their effectiveness and are unable to prevent the crimes that have become clear to everyone.

The Iranian president said international organizations have failed the test of Gaza and showed they’re no longer effective. He said the world should move toward forming new mechanisms to deal with threats to international peace and security.

He also called on Arab and Muslim nations to immediately cut ties with the Israeli regime and disrupt its financial lifelines to force the regime to stop its indescribable violence in Gaza.

Raeisi said he and Erdogan agreed that more efforts must be made to support Palestinian resistance and to restore their rights.

He said the Israeli occupation must end and Israelis must compensate for 75 years of crimes against Palestinians.

The Iranian president said Palestinians are the victors of over 100 days of war in Gaza and the Israeli regime is the loser.

‘Iran, Turkey can settle intl. issues’

In his remarks, the Iranian president also thanked Erdogan for his warm welcome and efforts to expand bilateral relations.

The president said the two countries have had good relations for many years and now they want to elevate these ties to even higher levels in future.

Raeisi said Iran and Turkey are two regional heavyweights who can work to settle regional and even international issues.

Touching on economic cooperation, he said the two countries plan to engage in more efforts to boost bilateral trade to 30 billion dollars.

He said they also agreed to further boost their fight against the scourge of terrorism in the region.

Erdogan, for his part, said he discussed with his Iranian counterpart the need for cessation of Israel’s inhumane attacks on Gaza and the urgency of just and permanent peace.

He said they also agreed on the importance of avoiding steps that would further threaten security, and stability of our region, referring to the Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

Erdogan said he also discussed with his Iranian counterpart the importance of closer cooperation to fight the Kurdistan Workers’ Party militant group and its affiliate terrorist groups.

The presser was held shortly following the eighth meeting of the Iran-Turkey high-level cooperation council.

The two presidents oversaw the signing of 10 memoranda of understanding to promote bilateral cooperation in various arenas including, security, education, energy, and natural resources.

Raeisi and Erdogan will also attend the joint meeting of business people and economic actors of Iran and Turkey. The Iranian president will also meet with Iranian nationals living in the neighboring country.

Heading a high-ranking politico-economic delegation, Raeisi left Tehran for Ankara on Wednesday at the invitation of his Turkish counterpart.

Raeisi’s visit to Turkey was twice canceled in recent months.

The Iranian president canceled his planned visit to Turkey early this month following a Daesh-claimed terrorist attack in the southeastern city of Kerman on January 3, during which 94 people lost their lives and 211 others sustained injuries.