Iranian delegates walked out of United Nations (UN) climate talks in the United Arab Emirates on Friday in protest over the presence of Israeli representatives, state media reported.

The Iranian side considered Israel’s presence at COP28 “as contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference and, in protest, it left the conference venue”, Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian, who headed the Iranian delegation, was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

In a telephone conversation on Thursday, the Iranian foreign minister and his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan talked about the latest developments in Gaza following the second extension of a ceasefire after weeks of deadly Israeli strikes on Palestinians, Iranian media disclosed.

Also, Iran has blamed Israel and the United States for a resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

“After killing more than 15,000 Palestinians, the Zionist vampires have started a new round of killing under the continued support of the American government,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Deadly fighting recommenced in Gaza on Friday immediately after the expiration of a seven-day truce between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas militants.

Kanani added that “the political and legal responsibility for the continuation of the aggression and massacre” rests with Israel, the US and “a few governments that support this apartheid regime.”

On Thursday, US top diplomat Antony Blinken, meeting Israeli and Palestinian officials, called for the pause in hostilities to be extended, and warned any resumption of combat must protect Palestinian civilians.

Other world leaders, and aid groups, had also sought an extended pause.

“The nations and the vast majority of the governments of the world are shouting for the continuation of the ceasefire and the complete stop to the Zionist regime’s attacks against Gaza and the West Bank,” Kanani said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said fighting had resumed after Hamas “violated” the truce, as Israel’s army reported the interception of a rocket fired from Gaza about an hour before the pause expired.

The truce had paused fighting that began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed across Gaza’s militarised border into Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 240 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas by launching air strikes and a ground military campaign in the Palestinian territory, where the Hamas-run health ministry said nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, were killed before the truce.

Iran, which has labelled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza a genocide, has denied any direct involvement in Hamas’s attack on Israel.

During the truce, mediated by Qatar with Egyptian and American support, 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

AFP