Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif cancelled a visit with his Austrian counterpart after Chancellor Sebastian Kurz’s government and foreign ministry flew the Israeli flag as a signal of solidarity in Israel’s conflict with the militant Hamas group, the Austrian foreign ministry said on Saturday as quoted by Reuters.
Zarif was due to meet his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg, but had called off the trip.
A spokeswoman for Schallenberg confirmed the report in newspaper Die Presse, pointing they will not remain silent when Hamas fires more than 2,000 rockets at civilian targets in Israel.
Openly pro-Israel Chancellor Kurz had defended flying the Israeli flag on the chancellery and the foreign ministry as a sign of solidarity, condemning with the utmost firmness the attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip and emphasizing that Israel has the right to defend itself against the attacks.
Vienna is hosting the negotiations in an effort to revive a 2015 accord with western powers in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for relief from sanctions.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, who heads the Iranian delegation, tweeted on Friday that Austria so far been a great host for negotiations but criticized the move by Kurz saying it’s shocking and painful to see flag of the occupying regime, over government offices in Vienna.
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