TEHRAN – Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saied Iravani has warned that the Israeli war against Gaza could spread to other regions if Israel’s aggression against the Palestinian enclave continued unabated.

In an interview with CNN, Iravani said Iran has “insisted that we are not going to expand this war front,” and has worked to calm allies in the region, but said others needed to do their part.

He indicated the conflict could still expand if the fighting in Gaza continued, according to CNN. 

Iravani reiterated Iran’s position that Tehran had no direct role in the October 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance groups against Israeli sites. 

He said there was cooperation and collaboration between Iran and resistance of axis groups but Iran did not direct the operations of those groups. He likened Iran’s role to that of the U.S. in providing assistance to Israel.

“We have said very clearly that Iran is not involving in any attack against the United States forces in the region,” he said, adding that any attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq were undertaken by others at “their own decision and by their own direction.”

In light of mounting fears of a wider regional war, Iravani said he has not had any “direct conversation” about containing the conflict in Israel with his U.S. counterpart in the UN.

As regards the October 7 attack, the Iranian ambassador pointed out that Iran was neither consulted nor did they have any prior details about the operation. Iravani said, “It is a war. It is a war which has been started 75 years ago.”

However, he then added, “If it were us, no. We will not do it.”

Israel has been pummeling the besieged Gaza Strip over the last 34 day, killing more than 10,000 civilians, mostly women and children. 

The United Nations human rights chief has warned that Israel’s collective punishment of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip “amounts to a war crime” as the Tel Aviv regime continues its deadly bombing campaign on the besieged enclave.

After a Wednesday visit to the Rafah crossing, the sole crossing point between Egypt and Gaza, Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Israeli bombardments in Gaza have killed, maimed and injured in particular women and children.

“The collective punishment by Israel of Palestinian civilians amounts also to a war crime, as does the unlawful forcible evacuation of civilians,” Turk said, according to Press TV.

Turk further said, warning, “We have fallen off a precipice. This cannot continue.”