TEHRAN – Iran’s foreign minister who made a three-nation tour around the region has warned the Israeli regime to stop its “war crimes” against Palestinians unless it wants to face a larger response.

During a press conference with his Lebanese counterpart in Beirut, Hussein Amir Abdollahian said new unforeseen scenarios might unfold if Israel does not change its criminal behavior.

"If the war crimes of the Zionist regime are not stopped, any possibility is conceivable," said the top Iranian diplomat.

He added, “We have announced our readiness for a foreign ministers' meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation since three days ago. We had initial coordination with the Secretary-General of this organization. We believe that war crimes against the people of Palestine must be stopped immediately, and the humanitarian siege, cutting off water, electricity, and medicine for the people of Gaza, must be lifted.”

He also condemned the U.S. for its hypocrisy, saying Washington urges regional countries to practice restraint while it allows Israel to commit any sort of crime against Palestinian civilians and even provides the regime with weapons.

Amir Abdollahian added over the last few days Iran has asked Egyptian authorities, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to facilitate transfer of food and medicine from Iran to the besieged Gaza Strip. “We invite all Islamic governments to raise their voices loudly for an end to the siege of Gaza and the crimes of the Zionist regime,” he stressed.

For his part, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Rashid Bouhabib reiterated Amir Abdollahian’s stance and asked for an end to the siege on Gaza. "We have been alongside the Palestinian people and demand an end to the siege of Gaza and condemn the crimes of the Zionist regime,” he said, emphasizing that “the continuation of tensions threatens regional security and international interests”.

The Lebanese chief diplomat added, "Everyone should pressure Israel to end its aggression. Stability can only be achieved through a just path for Palestine.”

 ‘The future depends on actions of Israel’

During a meeting with the secretary general of the Hezbollah resistance movement Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Iran’s foreign minister said Israel will determine future regional responses through its actions.

“Officials from some countries are in contact with us and inquire about the possibility of opening a new front in the region, and our response was that future possibilities largely depend on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza,” he said.

Hezbollah also released a statement on the meeting, saying, “Recent events and developments in the region were discussed during the meeting including Operation al-Aqsa Storm, the continuous aggressions of the Zionist regime against Gaza, brutal Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians, and the events at the al-Aqsa mosque. In this meeting, the international and regional circumstances and the possible consequences of the conflict were also reviewed."

 FM says nobody seeks Iran’s ‘permission’ to open a new war front against Israel

Before traveling to Beirut, Amir Abdollahian met with officials in Iraq. "The actions of resistance groups in the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation were entirely Palestinian and self-motivated, which even Westerners emphasize that Netanyahu's extremist behavior has created these conditions," he said in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad.

Amir Abdollahian also said nobody seeks Iran’s “permission to open a new front” against Israel, saying everything is “dependent” on the Zionist regime’s moves.

“Officials of certain countries in contact with us ask about a possible opening of new (war) fronts in the region. We tell them that our clear-cut response about future possibilities is that everything is dependent on the moves of the Zionist regime in Gaza,” Iran’s foreign minister remarked.

For his part, Prime Minister Al-Sudani stated, “The issue of Palestine is related to ideology rather than politics.”

He added every Muslim and free-minded person in the world backs the rights of Palestinians.

The Iraqi prime minister also said, “We are not surprised by the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation because the rights of the Palestinians cannot go unnoticed, and it is wrong to imagine that through normalization with the Zionist regime the rights of the Palestinians will be put into oblivion.”

Amir Abdollahian’s is set to visit Syria in the upcoming days.

Israel ordered a “total siege” of the Gaza Strip after Hamas attacked the occupied territories in a surprise offensive on October 7. The number of Palestinians who have died since the start of the war in Gaza rose to 1,799, and there have been 7,388 wounded. More than 500 of those killed are children.

On Friday, Israel also gave 1 million people living in northern Gaza a 24 notice to vacate their homes and move to the territory’s south. About 2.3 million people live in the densely populated strip.

MHA/PA