TEHRAN – Kamal Kharrazi, the director of the Strategic Council on Foreign Relations (SCFR), says the military power of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad is not comparable to 10 years ago and they are ready for a long battle.

In an interview with the Al Alam news network aired on Saturday, Kharrazi also says the Zionist regime’s army will face a “guerrilla war” if it enters the Gaza Strip. 

“Guerrilla wars are naturally protracted and America experienced a guerrilla war in Vietnam and could not defeat the Vietnamese. This is the situation in Gaza as well, the war continues, and certainly the Zionist regime will not achieve any results,” the SCFR chief predicts.

The veteran politician believes Israel cannot destroy the resistance in the Gaza Strip, saying blockading the coastal enclave from land, sea and air have failed to do so.

“Basically, the resistance, especially Islamic resistance, cannot be eliminated. No matter how many martyrs the Islamic resistance gives, new forces will join it and this path will continue. As it has been so far. All the crimes that the Zionist regime has committed against the Palestinian people, especially the Islamic resistance, have been aimed at destroying them.
But the result of these actions has been the expansion of resistance. Today, the power of Hamas and Islamic Jihad cannot be compared with five or 10 years ago. This shows that Islamic resistance is fertile. Therefore, the Zionist regime cannot destroy the Islamic resistance.”

The Islamic resistance in Gaza is “an underground movement and the regime's soldiers cannot deal with it on the ground,” he notes.

Kharrazi also says the purpose behind Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza is to force people to leave their lands and create another Nakba (disaster). 

“Naturally, one of the policies of the Zionist regime is to create a new tragedy. If this regime wants to relocate the people of Gaza, where should they go? Should they go to Egypt? Or if he wants to deport people from the West Bank, should they go to Jordan? But you can see that Jordan and Egypt have strongly resisted this policy. Because this issue will cause serious problems and consequences for them. The international community is also not ready to accept such forced migration.”

Kharrazi also says currently the Zionist regime’s allies are seeking to prevent the spread of war and the collapse of the Israeli regime.

Kharrazi, who was foreign minister from 1997 to 2005, also suggests that the United States must prevent the continuation of the Israeli crimes in Gaza, warning that in such a situation the possibility of the spread of the war is high.

After the Al-Aqsa Storm Operation on October 7, the leaders of the United States, Britain, Germany and France visited the occupied territories to express solidarity with the Tel Aviv regime. However, Kharrazi believes that the West is reluctant to being drawn into the war. 

“Supporters of Israel, including the United States and European countries, are worried about being dragged into this war. While the Zionists are interested in expanding the war, the authorities in these countries warn the leaders of the (Israeli) regime against spreading the war and entering Gaza. By making these trips, while supporting this regime politically and providing weapons to it, they are trying to control the ‘blind anger’ of this regime and prevent it from collapsing,” the former chief diplomat remarks.

Kharrazi not that the West is now facing a serious dilemma caused by themselves, referring to the creation of Israel after World War II.
 
“They are now facing a problem caused by an illegitimate regime that they have created. Therefore, the main purpose of these trips is to control the anger of the Zionist regime and prevent the spread of war so that they are not forced to enter into this conflict.”

On whether the U.S. will enter the war in favor of Israel or not, Kharrazi says, “This issue depends on the upcoming developments. If the war spreads, their policy will naturally change, but in the current situation, the policy pursued by the allies of the Zionist regime is aimed at preventing the spread of war. Their advice to Zionists and other countries is to try not to spread this war because they are caught in Ukraine. They are also facing internal challenges coupled with presidential elections in 2024. Therefore, it is not in their interest to spread such a war.”

The United States has killed the draft UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war.
 
“They support the continued aggressive actions of the Zionist regime in different ways. For example, in the United Nations, they veto any resolution that is proposed for a ceasefire. They opposed the Russian proposed resolution to the Security Council for a ceasefire; they also vetoed Brazil's resolution.

Therefore, at the political level and in the United Nations, they provide the utmost support to the Zionist regime. But they don't consider it in their interest to get involved in this war,” the former foreign minister points out.

On whether the Israeli army can enter the Gaza Strip to face the resistance forces, the veteran politician said, “Although the Zionist regime has announced that it wants to enter Gaza, it is very hesitant to do so. The Americans, Western countries and former military commanders of the Zionist regime know what kind of predicament a military entry into Gaza will create for them.

Therefore, in the messages they sent to the Zionist regime, and even Biden clearly stated, the Americans emphasize that the regime's military entry into Gaza will be a big mistake.

Now we see that the Zionist regime is hesitant and knows what hell it will face if it enters Gaza. In fact, Hamas lives in an underground city and can come out from anywhere and confront the soldiers and military equipment of the Zionist regime.”

Iran has repeatedly warned that if Israel does not stop its genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza it is highly likely that the war spirals out of control.

Resistance groups in the region have been warning that their patience over the Israeli atrocities in Gaza is coming to an end. 

The U.S. claims that these groups are pro-Iranians. However, Iran has said these groups don’t seek Tehran’s permission.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian has said the United States has sent two messages to Iran through intermediaries. On the content of the messages, Kharrazi said, “These messages are confidential, but Dr. Amir Abdollahian, the minister of foreign affairs, gave explanations about them. In general, these messages show the Americans' concern about the expansion of the war in the region. Naturally, our answer has been that in order to prevent the spread of the war, you must prevent the continuation of the Zionist regime's actions, while the Security Council must declare a ceasefire so that the war would not spread because, with the continuation of the current trend, the possibility of a large-scale war is high.”