Speaking at at a special meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday, Zarif also criticized the international community for turning a blind eye to the plight of the persecuted minority.
The top Iranian diplomat further condemned the global media blackout on the sufferings of Rohingya Muslims.
“Unfortunately, horrific images of drowned Muslim children on seashores have made no headlines in media worldwide,” the foreign minister said.
The top Iranian diplomat also censured the international community’s indifference to the plight of the Muslim community. He also called on the United Nations to focus on the crisis gripping the Rohingya Muslims.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian foreign minister stressed Rohingya Muslims have been deprived of their inalienable right to citizenship while facing violence, hatred and systematic discrimination.
The top Iranian diplomat also called for the urgent dispatch of humanitarian aid to the Muslims inside Myanmar and those forced to take refuge in neighboring states.
Zarif further urged the OIC member states to pressure Myanmar’s government to respect the Rohingya rights.
The United Nations has warned that the ongoing human rights violations against the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar’s northwestern state of Rakhine could be tantamount to “crimes against humanity.”
Rakhine has been the scene of communal violence at the hands of Buddhist extremists since 2012. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been forced from their homes and flee neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The Myanmar government denies full citizenship to the 1.1 million-strong Rohingya Muslims who are believed to be a community of ancient lineage in Myanmar.