Iran FM: War to Spread If Israeli Attacks Don’t Stop

Date: 13 October 2023 - 21:46

News ID: ۱۲۰۲۲۹

BEIRUT (Dispatches) — Iran’s foreign minister warned Friday that if the occupying regime of Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip don’t stop immediately, the conflict could spread to other parts of the Middle East.
Hussein Amir-Abdollahian is on a tour that took him to Baghdad before Beirut, and later in the day he was scheduled to travel to the Syrian capital, Damascus. Iran heads the so-called “axis of resistance” that includes powerful resistance movements in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq.
Amir-Abdollahian spoke to reporters in Beirut after a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart, during which the two officials called for an end to Zionist attacks on Gaza. He also met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, as well as caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and the speaker of parliament.
Local media outlet Al-Mayadeen said the Iranian minister and Nasrallah had discussed Hamas’ operation against the occupying regime of Israel.
Hezbollah has exchange fire with Israel across the border this week, in the most serious escalation since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and the Zionist regime.
Amir-Abdollahian told reporters on Friday that Israel was committing “war crimes” in Gaza, adding that Iran had asked Egypt, which borders Gaza, the United Nations and aid groups to allow it to send humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.
There have been concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon’s border where Hezbollah fighters have been on alert following Hamas’ attack on southern Occupied Palestine on Saturday that left hundreds of Zionists dead.
U.S. President Joe Biden has warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict, sending American warships to the region and vowing full support for the occupying regime of Israel.
“What is funny is that at a time when America is calling on parties for self restraint, it is allowing the criminals in the fake Zionist entity to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
He warned that “if these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don’t stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility.” He did not elaborate but it was an apparent hint that resistance groups could join the war.
Senior Hamas official Ali Barakeh told The Associated Press this week in Beirut that allies like Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah “will join the battle if Gaza is subjected to a war of annihilation.”
Amir-Abdollahian said: “America cannot send weapons and bombs to kill women, children and civilians in Gaza and at the same time calls on all sides for self-restraint.”
Amir-Abdollahian called on the foreign ministers and the leader of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a grouping of 57 countries with important Muslim populations, to hold a meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza.
After meeting Mikati, Amir-Abdollahian said the aim of his visit to Beirut is to preserve security in Lebanon amid regional tensions. “What is important for us is security in Lebanon and how to preserve calm,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
He added that what Hamas did over the weekend was in response to the policies of the occupying regime’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Early Thursday, Amir-Abdollahian had visited Iraq, where he made similar statements after a meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani.
The Iranian minister said the Islamic Republic welcomes and supports any initiative by Muslim countries meant to support the Palestinian nation.
Sudani, for his part, said that the Palestinian issue is not a political but an ideological issue and that supporting Palestine shows the conscience of Muslims and freedom-seeking people.
Iraq was not surprised by Operation Al-Aqsa Storm because the rights of the Palestinian people cannot be ignored or consigned to the oblivion by the normalization of ties with the Tel Aviv regime, he said.
Upon arrival in Baghdad, the top Iranian diplomat held talks with Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji.
During the meeting, Amir-Abdollahian said Iran is aware of Iraq’s “good position” in support of Palestine.
He also noted that the Islamic Republic has always supported the inalienable rights of Palestinians.
“What happened in Operation Al-Aqsa Storm was a completely Palestinian action, a spontaneous move in reaction to the Zionists’ continuous and provocative crimes against the Palestinians as well as repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said.
“What is happening in Gaza by the Zionist regime is a clear example of war crimes and if it is not stopped, it can affect the entire region,” the Iranian minister said.
Amir-Abdollahian said the United States is sending weapons to Israel at a time when the regime is massacring the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The foreign minister thanked the Iraqi government for implementing a security pact between the two neighboring countries and underlined the need for its full implementation.