Iran has vehemently condemned the settlers’ desecration of Al-Aqsa Mosque, led by hawkish Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

“This violation, which is a clear breach of the sanctity and religious status of this holy site and a blatant violation of United Nations resolutions, is yet another sign of the malicious intent of the Zionist regime to perpetuate tension and crisis in occupied Palestine and the region,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday.

Ben-Gvir led hundreds of settlers in a provocative march and mass incursion into the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East al-Quds on Sunday morning.

According to the Islamic Waqf Department in al-Quds, at least 1,251 Israeli settlers stormed the sacred site.

They performed Talmudic rituals, singing, and dancing under heavy police protection, coinciding with the Jewish commemoration of Tisha B’Av.

Baghaei added that Al-Aqsa Mosque, as the first qibla of Muslims, holds special reverence among Muslims and the people of Palestine.

He noted that by disrespecting this holy site, settlers seek to alter the Islamic and historical identity of Al-Quds, provoke the sentiments of Muslims worldwide, and escalate tensions in occupied Palestine.

The Iranian diplomat underlined that “a unified Al-Quds is the eternal capital of Palestine, and the international community has a duty to compel the occupying regime to halt its racist and criminal policies against the land and people of Palestine.”

Ben-Gvir had previously stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on the anniversary of the occupation of Al-Quds, which was met with a wave of condemnation and reaction from Muslims and religious figures.

The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which sits just above the Western Wall plaza, houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but as part of a decades-old agreement between Jordan – the custodian of Islamic and Christian sites in al-Quds – and Israel in the wake of Israel’s occupation of East al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.

The latest intrusion by Israeli settlers comes as the occupying regime keeps its bloody war machine going in the Gaza Strip, which has left at least 60,900 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, since October 7, 2023.