Standing 140 miles from Iran’s border, Israeli FM Sa’ar condemns regime for ‘massacre of unimaginable proportions’

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar called out the “massacre” taking place in Iran during an official visit to Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, two key Israeli allies in the greater Central Asia region.

Azerbaijan, which shares a long border with Iran, has particularly close ties with Israel, with the two countries cooperating in the fields of energy, water, and defense. 

During his visit, Sa’ar called out the Iranian regime’s repression of the anti-government protests. 

"A massacre of unimaginable proportions is taking place in Iran. A massacre of a people by the regime that controls it,” he stated in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku, which lies only about 140 miles from the border of Iran. 

Sa’ar met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, holding a one-on-one meeting, as well as an extended meeting with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jehun Bayramov and Economy Minister Mikhail Jabrov. 

In the meeting, Sa’ar and Aliyev discussed deepening cooperation between the two countries in the fields of energy, artificial intelligence, agriculture, water, defense, and tourism. 

During the meeting, Sa'ar also thanked President Aliyev for his support for Jewish life in the country and invited him to visit Israel. 

Sa'ar was accompanied by a large business-economic delegation that came to investigate increased economic ties between Israel and Azerbaijan. 

Following his meeting with Bayramov, the two ministers made a statement to the media, with Sa’ar praising the relationship between Israel and the U.S. under President Donald Trump, saying the joint strike against Iran by the two last year has “helped make the region safer.” 

"Since October 7, the axis of evil led by Iran has attempted to destroy the State of Israel,” Sa’ar said. “The joint actions of Israel and the United States under the leadership of President Trump have repelled Iran's nuclear ambitions. This has helped make the region safer.” 

He then spoke of the Islamic Republic’s behavior during the recent protests, which he said is "brutally murdering and oppressing its own people as they struggle for their freedom. This is happening behind the scenes of the internet shutdown, but the shocking images of the massive massacre of Iranian citizens are already beginning to emerge,” Sa’ar noted.

“We hear the chilling stories. A massacre of unimaginable proportions is taking place in Iran. A massacre of a people by the regime that controls it. Someone who behaves like this towards his own people - how can we expect him to behave (differently) towards other countries?” 

Sa’ar said the regime’s behavior demonstrated why it “is absolutely forbidden for the most extremist regime in the world to obtain the most dangerous weapon in the world – a weapon of mass destruction, a nuclear weapon.”

Sa'ar then continued his trip by going to Kazakhstan, meeting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Foreign Minister Yermak Kusherbayev and other senior government officials. The foreign minister's visit to the country came after Kazakhstan announced in November that it would join the Abraham Accords, during a visit by President Tokayev to Washington. 

While the country has maintained diplomatic relations with Israel since gaining independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its admission to the Accords is designed to expand the range of the Muslim countries joining from the Middle East to Central Asia. 

Kazakhstan's population is around 70% Sunni Muslim, while some 17% are Orthodox Christian.

On Tuesday, Minister Sa’ar attended a special ceremony in Kazakhstan to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the capital city of Astana. 

Sa’ar was joined at the ceremony by Kusharbayev, along with several other government officials, and members of the Israeli delegation, which traveled with him to the two countries. 

“Unfortunately, the ancient disease of anti-Semitism is once again showing its ugly face,” Sa’ar said at the event. “The new anti-Semitism is trying to undermine the right of the Jewish people to defend themselves.” 

“That is why I say this today: we have sworn – never again! This oath will not be broken. The Jewish state will defend itself vigorously against any threat. We have no other choice. We will fulfill this vow."