WANA (Feb 22) – The spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Esmaeil Baghaei, strongly condemned recent remarks by Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador in Tel Aviv, describing them as dangerous and provocative.

 

In a post on the X platform, Baghaei criticized statements in which Huckabee suggested that the occupying regime was entitled to seize Arab and Islamic lands “from the Nile to the Euphrates,” framing such claims as having a so-called religious justification.

 

Referring to a statement issued by the Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Iranian spokesperson emphasized that the Islamic Republic of Iran, in line with the OIC, unequivocally rejects what he described as “extremist and ideological rhetoric.” He warned that such statements embolden the occupying regime to continue its crimes against the Palestinian people and to intensify its ongoing acts of aggression against countries across the region.

 

The remarks by the U.S. ambassador, who claimed that the regime possesses a “divine right” to dominate vast parts of the Middle East, have triggered widespread regional condemnation. In response, a group of Arab and Islamic countries—including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, Syria, Palestine, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, and Bahrain—issued a joint statement rejecting the comments in the strongest terms.

 

The statement, released alongside the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, stressed that the ambassador’s remarks constitute a clear violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. It warned that such rhetoric poses a direct threat to regional peace and stability by legitimizing territorial annexation and reinforcing expansionist tendencies.

 

The signatories also noted that these statements stand in contradiction to the publicly stated position of Donald Trump, who has spoken of pursuing a comprehensive plan aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza. Observers say the episode highlights the growing gap between declared commitments to peace and the destabilizing impact of inflammatory political discourse in the Middle East.