TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi delivered an impassioned speech at a Tehran conference on Gaza developments on Tuesday, stating that recent events have exposed the "true face" of Israel and amplified its international isolation.

The majority of the top diplomat’s remarks focused on the consequences of Israel's actions in Gaza, explaining, "The brutal actions and genocide perpetrated by this regime in Gaza have not only outraged the conscience of the global community but have also compelled the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of the Zionist regime as a war criminal."

The Foreign Minister further noted that Israel's growing isolation is evident in travel restrictions faced by its leaders. "The international isolation of this regime has become increasingly evident, to the extent that many countries have prevented Benjamin Netanyahu from entering their territories and even closed their airspace to the aircraft carrying him, forcing the prime minister to take a new route to go to America.”

125 countries are members of the ICC. The court’s 2024 arrest warrant for Netanyahu and his former War Minister Yoav Gallant over their war crimes in Gaza requires these nations to detain the two politicians should enter their territory.

The situation has made traveling challenging for the Israeli Prime Minister who had to choose an unusual route for the flight bringing him to the United States on Monday. Netanyahu was also forced to skip a Holocaust memorial service in Poland this January, an annual event attended by top Israeli officials every year. 

In another part of his speech, Araghchi addressed the strength and resilience of regional Resistance movements fighting Israel in the past 16 months. He praised Hamas's performance following the recent ceasefire in Gaza, stating that the group "displayed the image of a resilient and confident group that... not only rebuilt its forces but also exchanged Zionist prisoners with authority and victoriously ended the war." He also mentioned that Hezbollah, despite suffering losses, demonstrated "unparalleled resistance in the ground war in southern Lebanon."

Hezbollah entered a 13-month battle with Israel on October 8, 2023, a day after the regime began its devastating and harrowing war against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip. The Lebanese Resistance group lost some of its most prominent members, including its long-serving and extremely popular leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah. 

In his Tuesday remarks, the Iranian Foreign Minister emphasized the ideological foundation of these Resistance movements, citing the philosophy of resistance and Imam Khomeini’s belief in "the victory of blood over the sword" as central tenets. He noted that the Hamas and Hezbollah see their primary weapon as "the blood of martyrs" rather than military armaments.