TEHRAN- Hossein Amir Abdollahian, Iran’s Foreign Minister, has warned that if the United States continues to back Israel in its “war crimes” and “genocide” against the Palestinian people in Gaza, the opening of new battlefronts will be “unavoidable”.

Amir Abdollahian said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Saturday that the United States’ unwavering backing for Israel has exacerbated the regime’s assault against the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas and the slaughter of civilians, particularly women and children.

“If the Israelis do not stop the war and continue with the killing and crimes against the Palestinians, the opening of new fronts will be unavoidable, and that will put Israel in a new situation that will make it regret its actions,” he added.

“The U.S. is advising others to show self-restraint, but it has sided completely with Israel,” he said, drawing attention to the U.S.’s blatant double standards.

Over 8,000 people have died in Gaza since the Israeli attack took place, with women and children accounting for 70% of the casualties.

The senior Iranian diplomat underscored that Washington’s continuous unconditional backing for Israel would destabilize the region, and warned that it would be harmful to Washington as well.

Additionally, Amir Abdollahian called Hamas’s Al-Aqsa Storm a “completely Palestinian decision”.

“Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah are groups that act in line with their own countries’ interests. They neither take orders from us nor do we give them orders,” he said.

In answer to a question regarding how to de-escalate tensions, the minister asked the United States to act fairly.

He said, “Iran has always played a constructive role in the region and believes that political approaches would reduce tensions.”

Amir Abdollahian also emphasized that Iran has never supported and would never condone the slaughter of people anywhere, and that Israel’s occupation is the primary cause of the current situation in the region.

He refuted a Wall Street Journal article that said hundreds of Palestinian resistance members trained in Iran for specialized combat situations in the weeks before the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation.

“They themselves have forces to train. They produce the weapons and equipment they need. We have strong political bond with Hezbollah and resistance groups,” he responded.

The minister stressed that Tehran will not be a bystander to regional developments, but he also denied allegations that more Iranian troops had been sent to Syria, Iraq, and other countries in the region since the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza.

He said that Iran decides based on its interests, national security, and the state of the region.

Iran’s chief diplomat added Israel is classified as an “occupying power” under international law.

Israel has cut off water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel to the besieged Gaza Strip.

Richard Falk, an international law professor who taught at Princeton University, says, “Article 55 of Geneva IV sets forth the duty of Israel as occupying power to ensure that the people living in the territory it “occupies” have adequate food, water and medicines.”

Beginning on October 7, the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement launched the largest offensive against Israel. The occupying regime has not seen such an attack in its 75-year history. The attack seriously shattered the myth of the invincibility of the Israeli regime. 

The surprise Palestinian operation came in response to the regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank.

Iran, and Qatar urge immediate halt to Israel’s onslaught against Gazans

On Sunday, the Iranian and Qatari foreign ministers also demanded an immediate halt to Israel’s aggressive bombing raids on the beleaguered Gaza Strip.

Iran’s Amir Abdollahian and Qatar’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani emphasized that Israel’s indiscriminate attacks against the enclave must end immediately.

They also demanded an uninterrupted supply of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.