The combo photo shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi (R) and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raeisi has highlighted the role played by Hamas in the Gaza Strip as the territory’s legitimate government, saying the war against the Palestinian resistance movement is tantamount to waging war on democracy.

During a telephone conversation with Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Saturday night, Raeisi welcomed Oslo’s position on the need for an immediate end to Israel’s killing of civilians in Gaza as well as international efforts to lift the siege on the coastal enclave and deliver aid to its residents.

He also expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with the Norwegian Justice Ministry in an investigation into the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza, stressing that the regime’s war crimes and the US support for such criminal acts should not go unpunished.

Hamas is the legal, elected and legitimate government of Gaza, he said. The war against Hamas is a war on democracy.

Israel waged a bloody war on the blockaded Gaza Strip on October 7 after Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed at least 9,572 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 26,000 others.

It has also imposed a complete siege on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

Raeisi noted that the killing of almost 10,000 Gazans, including 4,000 children, is the result of the massive shipment of weapons and equipment by the United States to the Zionist regime.

The fact that a child is killed in Gaza almost every 10 minutes is horrible and a clear example of crime against humanity and genocide. The disgusting silence of the US and some European countries along with their weaponry support for the Zionist regime prove the West’s double standards and its obvious partnership in the Zionists’ crimes, he said.

The Iranian chief executive further censured the ineffectiveness of 180 UN resolutions to change Israel’s behavior.

The Islamic Republic, he added, has presented a UN-registered democratic and fair solution to the Palestinian issue based on the idea of one vote for every Palestinian.

The Norwegian premier, for his part, said his country is aware of Iran’s important and effective role in the region.

He also appreciated Tehran’s attempts to reduce regional tensions and called for interactions with the Islamic Republic toward resolving the Palestine issue.

Iran and Norway, he emphasized, can consult and cooperate through diplomatic channels to find a solution that immediately ends the fighting, lifts the Gaza siege and provides relief aid to its people.