KARACHI: Central Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday strongly condemned the aggression against Iran, calling it the worst form of state terrorism, urging Islamabad to openly side with Tehran. Addressing a press conference at Idara Noor-e-Haq, and later speaking at a public convention, Hafiz Naeem said Washington and Tel Aviv were jointly responsible for attacks on Iran and warned that in any regime change in Iran would bring wider regional consequences, including for Pakistan. However, funeral prayer for Khamenei in absentia was offered at RCD Ground in Malir’s Saudabad area, led by MPA Muhammad Farooq. Later, addressing a large convention at the same venue under the theme “Death to America, Death to Israel – Life Lies in Resistance,” Hafiz Naeem said that the United States and Israel had attacked Iran and martyred Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with members of his family. He said Iran had supported Gaza and stood firmly with the Palestinian resistance, adding that efforts were under way to dismantle Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme. He claimed the US and Israel had carried out two attacks on Iran within a year and accused Washington of pushing the world towards instability and conflict. Criticizing Pakistan’s leadership, Hafiz Naeem regretted that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had nominated US President Donald Trump twice for the Nobel Prize. He said such actions compromise the national dignity. Referring to the situation in Gaza, he said more than 80,000 people had been killed there, with additional casualties in the West Bank, and alleged the use of lethal bombs that caused bodies to evaporate. He maintained that Israel enjoyed full backing from the United States. He also criticised the United States over its historical chequered record, citing the killing of Red Indians, the Native Americans, and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and claimed the country had never truly won a war. He said the time had come to declare Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘war criminals’. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026