TEHRAN, October 16 (HS/RIA Novosti) - Iran has proposed banning Israel from participating in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said.

On Thursday, Azerbaijani media reported that during the speech of Israeli President Isaac Herzog at the CICA summit, delegations from 14 countries walked out of the meeting hall.

The time has come for the Zionist regime to be expelled from the CICA mechanism, Gharibabadi was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency on Thursday.

Tehran believes that Israel is the main source of instability and security threats in the region, the Iranian diplomat said, adding that further escalation could spread the current crisis in the Middle East beyond Iran and the entire region.

He also stated that Tehran does not seek war, but will respond decisively to any aggression, and warned that an escalation of the conflict in the Middle East threatens to entail serious costs for global energy, trade, and logistics.

The CICA comprises 28 countries: Russia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Vietnam, Egypt, Israel, India, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, China, Kuwait, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Palestine, Pakistan, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar