(National Review) Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly said some of the Islamic Republic’s other proxies — “the rest of the axis” of Palestinian resistance — will respond to Israel’s bombing of Gaza.
“The continuation of war crimes against Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis,” he said, according to AFP.
Iran funds and arms Hamas, in addition to other terrorist groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. The regime’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, celebrated the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas gunmen last weekend and cheered on the terrorist attacks, while also denying that Iran was behind the killings. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Abdollahian attended coordination meetings as Hamas planned the assault and consulted other Iranian proxies.
Abdollahian’s remarks, during a press conference in Beirut this afternoon, were also reported by Sky News and Al Mayadeen. The comments suggest that Iran’s other proxy forces might also attack Israel. Besides a handful of rocket launches from southern Lebanon, and skirmishes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah forces, the Lebanon-based group has stayed out of the fight.
Iranian officials have warned Israel that it will be met with new attacks if it continues its strikes against Hamas in Gaza, as Abdollahian did earlier today during a meeting with Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
“Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front being opened in the region,” Abdollahian said, according to AFP.
“We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza. Even now, Israel’s crimes continue, and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts.”
