Iran says ‘time running out’ for solution to Gaza war, threatens ‘expanding’ conflict
Raisi warns Putin of ‘possibility of expanding the scope of war’ while FM Amir-Abdollahian says the opening of new fronts in conflict is ‘approaching an inevitable stage’
Iran on Monday said time was running out to reach a political solution to the Israel-Gaza conflict, warning of the “possibility of expanding the scope of war and conflict to other fronts.”
During conversations on Monday with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi “warned against the continuation of crimes by the Zionist regime,” the president’s political deputy, Mohammad Jamshidi, wrote on X.
In his phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Raisi warned of a “possibility of expanding the scope of war and conflict to other fronts.”
“If this happens, it will be more difficult to control the situation,” Raisi said, according to state news agency IRNA.
Israel declared war on Hamas after thousands of terrorists broke through the Gaza border fence on October 7 and shot, stabbed, and burned to death more than 1,300 people across southern Israel, the vast majority of them civilians.
Israel has responded by hitting the Gaza Strip with wave after wave of air strikes and artillery strikes aimed at dismantling the terror group, which have killed at least 2,750 people in Gaza.
Iran celebrated and welcomed the Hamas assault, but insisted it was not involved. Yet Tehran, a longtime backer of Hamas, has repeatedly warned that a ground invasion of Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts, prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries.
On Monday, during a speech opening a wartime session of the Knesset, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the world to unite to defeat Hamas and issued a stark warning to Hezbollah and to Iran: “Don’t try us, you will be severely harmed.” His comments echoed those heard from other world leaders in recent days, including Biden, who has said he had one word for those seeking to join the conflict: “Don’t.”
During his call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, Raisi said it was “vital” to stop what he described as “the brutal attacks” of Israel on Gaza, the IRNA state news agency reported.
Raisi also expressed Iran’s readiness to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also threatened an “expansion of war fronts,” if the war in Gaza does not stop, in an interview on Monday with Al Jazeera.
“Iran cannot stand idly by and watch this situation unfold,” the top diplomat added, noting that every hour, the possibility of a new war front opening increases.
Amir-Abdollahian made his statements during a visit to Qatar, where he met senior Qatari officials, as well as Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s political bureau. Qatar has been accused of being a sponsor of Hamas and other terror groups in the region.
The regime’s official IRNA news agency also reported that Iran is negotiating with countries in the region to send “relief items” into Gaza, and to open a field hospital in Egypt near the Gaza border.
In a post on X, Amir-Abdollahian said he told his counterparts in Malaysia, Pakistan, and Tunisia that the “probable spread of war to other fronts is approaching an inevitable stage.”
