Even if the US Embassy is moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the city will never become the capital of Israel, says Hossein Sheikholeslam, former adviser to Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Javad Zarif and the leader of the organization "Freedom to Holy Jerusalem."
"First, no matter how much [US President Donald Trump] wants this, he will not succeed," Sheikholeslam told Sputnik Iran, commenting on Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital. "Almost all countries of the world oppose the move… For its part, Iran has also expressed its protest."
According to the Iranian politician, Trump's actions indicate that the US president does not want to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East and on the contrary, is destabilizing the situation in the region.
"Now that we have got rid of Daesh, it is time to create and restore peace and tranquility," Sheikholeslam said. "However, the US is heating up a new cauldron of conflicts."
"This is a real betrayal of Muslims and Christians of holy Jerusalem — the cradle of all Abrahamic religions," he stressed, "Jerusalem has always been, is and remains the capital of Palestine, not the state of Israel."
On December 6, Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital and instructed the State Department to move the US Embassy to the city. The transfer of the embassy was one of the US president's election promises.
Trump's move has prompted a wave of criticism worldwide. Speaking to Sputnik, Basem Al-Aga, Palestinian ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), highlighted that the US' decision "will affect the stability not only of Palestine, but of the region and the entire world."
"If there is no peace in Jerusalem, then there will be none in the whole world," the ambassador said.
For his part, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynder stressed in an interview with the broadcaster RTBF that the recognition of Jerusalem "contradicts international law and the course that has been pursued by the US administration previously."
Switzerland's Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) also expressed its concerns over Washington's move, referring to the UNSC Resolution 478 that stipulates that any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian should be based on the mutual agreement on the final status Jerusalem by all parties involved.
According to Chief Rabbi of Russia Berl Lazar, Trump's move is nothing short of "restoration of justice." Berl Lazar noted that the ancient city of Jerusalem "has always been a Jewish capital."
On Wednesday the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov focused attention on the fact that the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital may ruin the prospects for a peaceful settlement and threatens to drive the wedge within the international community.
"We have to continue to search for a diplomatic solution, though, the situation definitely became complicated," Peskov said.
Previously, on April 6, 2017, the Russian Foreign Ministry signaled its "commitment to the UN-approved principles for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement, which include the status of East Jerusalem as the capital of the future Palestinian state." The ministry stressed that in this context Russia views "West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel."
"The concrete parameters of a solution for the entire range of issues regarding the status of Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem, should be coordinated at the direct talks between the parties involved," the statement said.
