OIC Should Shun Double-Standards, Back Iran: Geelani

Srinagar, India, Feb 22, IRNA - A top Kashmiri leader has blasted United States and its western allies for imposing sanctions on Iran urging the OIC to shun double-standards and back Tehran. Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani condemned the sanctions imposed on Iran, saying, “world powers were resorting to diplomatic hooliganism to dominate others,” Kashmir Observer quoted Geelani as saying. “It is unjust that these countries, which posses nuclear bombs and weapons of mass destruction, accuse others of developing such weapons. Iran has every right to defend itself and the international community should accept this right,” he said. He said that the UN support for the anti-Iran sanctions have raised questions over the credibility of the international body. “The Organization of Islamic Cooperation should raise its voice against these double standards and support Iran,” the Hurriyat leader said. Geelani also condemned a bill submitted to the US House of Representatives in support of the 'right of self-determination' for the people of Baluchistan, terming it as a “blatant interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign country.” “The bill is a clear proof of the double standards of international powers which are ignoring key global issues like Palestine and Kashmir. Millions of people in these two regions are suffering humiliation every day, their lives and property being unsafe, but no resolution was ever tabled in US Congress on these issues,” the statement said. Earlier Chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umer Farooq also supported Iran in its fight against western hegemony./end