Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Saturday called on Islamic governments to designate Israel’s military as a “terrorist organisation”.

“Islamic governments should designate the army of the occupying and aggressor regime as a terrorist organisation,” Raisi told a summit of Arab and Muslim leaders in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

The emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) comes after Israel declared war against the Islamic terror group Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7. More than 1,200 people including babies and women were killed by the Islamic terror group in the attacks.

In his first visit to Riyadh since Iran and Saudi Arabia restored ties in March, Raisi urged nations that have ties with Israel to sever them and called for greater support for Palestine. He called for “cutting any sort of political or economic relations with the Zionist regime” as important steps to be taken by Islamic countries.

Implementing a “trade boycott against the Zionist regime especially in the energy field should be prioritised,” he added.

The Iranian president also hit out at the US for providing financial and military support to Israel. “Both the war machine of the Zionist regime and its fuel belong to the Americans,” he said, adding that “undoubtedly, the US government is the commander and the main accomplice of this crime.”