Tasnim – An Iranian deputy foreign minister informed Muslim countries’ envoys in Tehran of the Islamic Republic’s stances on the Muslim world developments as Saudi Arabia is going to host a conference of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Gholam Hossein Dehqani held a meeting with ambassadors of the Islamic countries in Tehran on Tuesday.

The gathering was held ahead of an OIC summit due to be held in Saudi Arabia later this month.

In the meeting, Dehqani elaborated on the stances and views of the Islamic Republic regarding the priorities of the Islamic world as well as the latest regional developments, according to the Foreign Ministry’s website.

He also warned of the plots hatched by the Zionist regime and certain extra-regional powers to mislead the OIC, and called on Islamic countries to remain vigilant against the conspiracies.

The Iranian deputy minister further stressed that the issue of Palestine is still the major priority of the OIC.

He then referred to the current situation in the Islamic world and West Asia, especially the plots hatched by US President Donald Trump and the Zionist regime as well as attempts to sow the seeds of division among Islamic states.

The OIC and its summits including the upcoming Mecca meeting should serve as a forum for promoting cohesion and solidarity among the Islamic community rather than turning into a platform for division, enmity and raising issues totally irrelevant to the OIC’s goals under the pressure of outsiders and some of their cronies, Dehqani said.

He underlined that Islamic states should resist any divisive measures and efforts to deviate the OIC members from the main goal of the Muslim world, namely Palestine.

"Any effort in this line would only serve (the interests of) the Zionist regime and the Trump administration," he cautioned.

The Iranian diplomat also called for the application of principle of consensus and transparency in the OIC decision-making, and criticized the current trend which he said completely ignores the stances of some states including Iran during the organization’s meetings.

Dehqani referred to the discriminatory and anti-Iran stances adopted by the secretariat of the OIC over the past years, saying the secretariat, under pressure from Saudi Arabia, has moved away from its professional goals and adopted a new approach to exert pressure on its members.

"The approach is damaging and violates all accepted principles and procedures in all international organizations," he said.

The ranking diplomat called on the OIC secretariat to observe the principles of impartiality and transparency, stressing that the secretariat should respect the basic and major goal of the OIC to defend the rights of the Palestinians and fight against the Zionist regime’s conspiracies.

In the gathering, a number of the ambassadors also elaborated on their respective governments’ views on regional and global developments.

The ambassadors also raised questions about the agenda of the meeting which were responded by the Iranian official.