The Iranian foreign minister warned of “uncontrollable consequences” for the U.S. if its backing of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza continues to expand.
“I say frankly to the American statemen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine that we do not welcome the expansion of the war in the region,” Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a United Nations address. “But I warn, if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire. It is our home and West Asia is our region.”
The war in Gaza began earlier this month after Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli towns, killing more than 1,400 people. Responding Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 6,700 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Iran has long been an ally of Hamas, supplying it with money, military training and weapons. The militant group is considered a terrorist organization in the U.S. and European Union.
At the start of the conflict, Hamas took about 200 people hostage, mostly Israeli civilians. Amir-Abdollahian said Hamas is ready to release those hostages and called on members to also support the freeing of about 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Hostages have been the main focus of the conflict in the last week after four were released, two Americans and two elderly Israeli women.
Amir-Abdollahian held up the Hamas fighters as a Palestinian resistance and said the group has an “unalienable right” to self-determination and independence for Gaza, free from what he described as Israeli occupation of Palestine.
He also criticized the U.S.'s role in the decades-long conflict between Israel and Palestine.
“The United States of America, as the unwavering and permanent supporter of the occupying regime, is the main cause of the failures of the United Nations, especially the Security Council, in upholding the rights of the Palestinians,” he said.
Amir-Abdollahian directed his words at President Biden, calling on the U.S. to stop backing Israel in the conflict.
“While the United States itself is actually in practice and directly involved in committing crimes against Palestinians, it is not in a position to invite others to exercise self-restraint and refrain from spreading the war,” he continued. “Therefore, we strongly warn against the uncontrollable consequences of the unlimited financial, arms and operational support by the White House to the Tel Aviv regime, which have led to the expansion and added to the severity of the bombardments of the civilians and the Palestinian women and children in Gaza and the West Bank.”
