The foreign ministers of the member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have condemned Israel's destabilizing policies in the region and have decided to establish a ministerial-level contact group to work towards reducing tensions.

Axar.az reports that this is stated in the Istanbul Declaration adopted following the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC countries held in Turkiye on June 21-22.

"We condemn Israel's destabilizing policies in the region, as well as its recent attacks on Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. This is a gross violation of the sovereignty, security, and international law of the countries. We call on the international community to take deterrent measures to stop this aggression and to hold Israel accountable for its crimes. We decide to establish an open contact group consisting of ministers, which will be tasked with establishing regular contacts with relevant regional and international parties to support efforts to de-escalate, stop aggression against Iran and achieve a peaceful settlement," the document released by the Turkish Foreign Ministry says.

In particular, the declaration stated that Israel's attacks on Iran threaten the humanitarian, economic, and environmental situation in the region. At the same time, the foreign ministers called for the UN International Conference on Palestine to be convened as soon as possible.