‘Isolate terror-coddling Iran’
<b>Light and unity</b> Israel Ambassador Ilan Fluss led the lighting of the Minorrah, prior to the lighting of battery-operated candles by various Christian groups gathered for a solidarity service at the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem Philippines in Malate, Manila to make a stand with Israel, on 24 October. During the service, Ambassador Fluss expanded on the severity of Hamas acts on Israeli victims in his speech. He also stressed the significance of allies’ and communities’ support in allowing their country to carry out their duty.
International pressure must be applied on Iran, which is among the unknowns in the Israel-Hamas conflict, to keep its fundamentalist government from supporting terror groups involved in the ongoing violent strife.
Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss said the international community's action against Iran is an immediate challenge.
"We have been calling a long time for sanctions on Iran because it finances and promotes terrorism, it is actively seeking to develop a nuclear capability, and it has been polishing its missile capability," Fluss said in a roundtable meeting at the DAILY TRIBUNE on Monday.
He added, "Pressure must be made to bear on Iran to make sure that it is isolated and, hopefully, they will change their fundamentalist regime."
Last 12 October, Iran called on Islamic and Arab countries to form a united front against Israel.
Tehran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, has come under intense scrutiny since the 7 October Hamas storming of Israel's southern border, where it shot dead people in their homes and on the streets in an onslaught that claimed more than 1,200 lives.
Iran has insisted it was not involved in the attack but celebrated the assault as a "success."
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi asked his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in a phone call to cooperate against Israel.
The main problem
"All the Islamic and Arab countries… must reach serious convergence and cooperation on the path of stopping the crimes of the Zionist regime against the oppressed Palestinian nation," Raisi said in the call.
"Iran is supporting Russia in the war in Ukraine. Iran is promoting terrorism globally because of their fundamentalist philosophy. So Iran is the main problem in the Middle East," Fluss said in a meeting with Daily Tribune editors.
"The problem on Iran is not only an Israeli but a global issue, so it's not something for us as a country of 9.5 million people to respond to Iran," he added.