Iran’s Foreign Minister Meets Hezbollah Leader Amid Hamas-Israel War
Iran's foreign minister on Friday warned of escalating violence in the Middle East if Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip don’t halt immediately.
Iran's foreign minister on Friday warned of escalating violence in the Middle East if Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip don’t halt immediately.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the head of militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, met in Beirut to discuss the war that started last week after Hamas attacked Israel killing more than a thousand civilians and taking more than a hundred people hostage.
The foreign minister is on a tour of the region to meet with powerful militant groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to mobilize support against long-time foe Israel.
Speaking to journalists after meeting with his Lebanese counterparts, Amir-Abdollahian said actions taken by Hamas over the weekend were in response to policies of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, an avid critic of the ruling clerical regime in Iran.
“If these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don’t stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility,” said Amir-Abdollahian.
The statement comes after both Iran’s ruler, Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi extended congratulatory remarks praising Hamas for its “courage and bravery” after their air land and sea attack on Israel.
Iran is a supporter of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, though it has denied involvement in the recent attacks on Israel. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have quoted sources who have said that Iran is complicit in the Hamas attacks.
The visit comes amid growing international concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon’s border and the wider Middle East given high animosity and tensions in the region.
Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that the continuation of Hamas-Israel war will prompt a response from "the rest of the axis of resistance." The ‘resistance' front or axis is the term coined by the Islamic Republic to describe its logistic, financial and intelligence support for the Syrian regime, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and dozens of militia groups in the region, several of which were created by Iran.
"This is just the beginning,” Iranian lawmaker Kamal Alipour told Didban Iran website, adding that “if the Supreme Leader orders, we will also have military support for Hamas." Referring to the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s, he said that “Iran stood against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for eight years, therefore war against Israel is nothing in comparison to that.”
Alipour added, "Iran has provided consultation and military training to Hamas forces. Basically, the philosophical underpinning of our Islamic Revolution is to assist the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine."
His remarks were echoed by another lawmaker, Shahriar Heydari, who emphasized that Iran has backed Hamas through military training and advisory support, claiming that due to the blockade of Gaza, “sending weapons from Iran is not possible but if such an opportunity were available, we would provide our utmost support... In terms of military training, we have been and will remain a source of assistance."
"We have trained the resistance forces and Hamas to use missile technology, but these technologies belong to the Palestinians and the fighters themselves," he claimed.
While the Islamic Republic is cheering about the war in Israel, Iranians’ reactions to the regime’s propaganda indicate a complex societal schism. Countless posts sympathetic to Israelis who have suffered the biggest loss of life in one day since the holocaust are promoting hashtags such as “Iranians Stand With Israel.”
Numerous social media posts are encouraging people loyal to the regime to travel to Israel and support Hamas in the battlefield, suggesting that this might be the most direct path to becoming revered "martyrs" in their revolutionary ideology.
Regime-sponsored rallies were also held on Friday across Iran in solidarity with the Hamas attack, praising the “miraculous and wonderful operation” that made “terror and fear engulf” Israel.
The Iranian foreign minister, in Beirut on a tour of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, was received at the airport by top officials of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. "Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes,” he said, referring to the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip.
Western governments and media are questioning Iran’s role in the Hamas attack and its long-standing financial and military support for militant groups in the region. The Iranian foreign minister’s remarks push Tehran further to the forefront of the conflict.
Israel has been pounding Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has killed well over 1,000 civilians, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.
