Expansion of Gaza war ‘inevitable’: Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned on Thursday that expansion of the Israel-Hamas conflict has become “inevitable” due to the expansion of the intensity of Israel’s war against Gaza’s civilians.
“Due to the expansion of the intensity of the war against Gaza’s civilian residents, expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable,” Amir-Abdollahian said in a telephone conversation with his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. He had earlier warned about the spread of the war in the region.
On October 13, Amir-Abdollahian warned that opening other fronts in the Israel-Hamas war was a “real possibility”.
There are widespread concerns in the region and beyond that the conflict could spread in the region. Since the beginning of the conflict on October 7, there have been deadly clashes in the northern part of the occupied territories at the border with Lebanon between Israel forces and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance fighters. Meanwhile, Yemen’s Armed Forces have also conducted several rounds of drone and ballistic missile attacks against targets lying inside the occupied territories in response to the Israeli regime’s unbridled aggression against Gaza.
Attacks on US bases
At the same time, the strikes on US military positions in Iraq and Syria have increased amid rising anti-US sentiment in the region over Washington’s all-out support for the Israeli onslaught against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Pentagon said US fighter jets conducted an airstrike on what it called a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria used by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and affiliated groups on November 8.
A senior US defense official claimed that the Nov. 8 strikes in eastern Syria were in response to ongoing threats and attacks directed at US bases in both Syria and Iraq by the IRGC and Iran-aligned groups.
But, Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations in an interview aired on Thursday evening rejected the allegations that the country has been involved in the recent series of strikes on US military troops.
“We have said very clearly that Iran is not involving in any attack against the United States forces in the region,” Amir Saeid Iravani said. Iran supports resistance groups in the region but does not direct any of those operations, he said, likening Iran’s role to that of the US in assisting the Israeli regime.
In a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Iravani said that Tehran “has never been involved in any attack or action against US forces in Syria and Iraq.”
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Thursday that the US forces have been attacked 46 times since October 17. That includes 24 attacks in Iraq and 22 in Syria, she added.