Tabriz, Gaza ink sister city agreement

Iran's Northwestern city of Tabriz and the Palestinian Gaza city in a ceremony on Saturday were declared as sister cities.During the ceremony in Tabriz today, a relevant memorandum of understanding was signed by Tabriz Mayor Ali Reza Novin and Gaza Mayor Refik Salem Mekki.Novin termed the Tabriz-Gaza sisterhood declaration as a move to strengthen the relations between the two cities, and said, "The sisterhood of the two cities was approved by Tabriz Islamic City Council after last year's savage attacks by the Zionist regime on the Gaza Strip and the grounds for the sisterhood of Tabriz as the first capital city of the Shiite world and the Gaza city as a symbol of resistance and sacrifice came on our agenda when Gazans where experiencing the second Israeli war in 2012."Meantime, Novin noted that Tabriz will soon send a friendship convoy to Gaza to renew its support for the besieged people of the Palestinian city and find ways to help reconstruct Gaza.Last month, Iran's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mohammad Khazayee called on the UN to take serious action to halt Israeli aggressions against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.Khazayee made the remarks in separate meetings with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and President of the UN Security Council Vitaly Churkin on Friday."I asked Mr. Ban and Mr. Churkin to act a practically and seriously aim at urging the Zionist regime to pay heed to its international commitments and to response to the UNSC demands."The Iranian envoy also discussed Gaza blockade, Israeli settlements in Gaza and the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.Representatives of the Arab League and the Arab group at the United Nations and the Palestinian representative at the UN were also present in the meetings.