Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian appeared to threaten military attacks on America in remarks on Sunday, predicting “any possibility any moment” against America should Washington continue to defend Israel’s right to respond to Hamas’s unprecedented mass murder of Israeli civilians.
The Israeli government is reportedly preparing for an operation against Hamas, the Sunni terrorist organization in charge of the Gaza Palestinian territory. On October 7, Hamas launched a sweeping invasion of Israeli communities it called the “al-Aqsa flood” in which it massacred entire families in door-to-door raids, often torturing, decapitating, and burning children alive. Some victims are suspected to have been newborns; others, elderly and disabled Israelis.
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The Israeli government has confirmed the killing of around 1,200 on that day – the largest massacre of Jews in one day since the Holocaust. The Palestinian terror attack happened on the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final day of the annual High Holy Day cycle.
Iran is a close ally and funder of Hamas. Tehran’s Shiite Islamist regime responded to the “al-Aqsa flood” by throwing a massive street party in the capital featuring free sweets and a fireworks display, as well as crowds chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America.” Iran regularly threatens war against Israel and aggressively rejects the country’s right to exist.
Iranian protesters shout anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans while burning the U.S. flag during an anti-Israel rally in downtown of Tehran, Iran, on October 18, 2023. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“Our strategy towards the Zionist entity never changes: the removal of the Zionist entity. Israel must be eliminated,” Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier-General Abolfazl Shekarchi said in 2021.
Following his threats on Sunday, Amir-Abdollahian reportedly held phone calls with the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad – a separate terrorist group believed responsible for the bombing of a Gaza hospital last week – on Monday.
Prior to those calls, however, Amir-Abdollahian held a joint press conference with visiting South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor in which he warned future attacks would occur against America if it did not stop condemning the Hamas mass murder.
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Naledi Pandor (L) and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) hold a joint press meeting in Tehran, Iran, on October 22, 2023 (Photo by Haydar Sahin/Anadolu via Getty Images).
“The region is now a powder keg and any miscalculation, genocide and forced displacement of people in Gaza can have consequences for the region and warmongers alike,” the Iranian state propaganda outlet PressTV quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying. “I am warning the US and the Zionist regime that there could be any possibility any moment if they do not immediately stop the crimes against humanity in Gaza.”
“Amir-Abdollahian said warmongers will be the ones to suffer if things spiral out of control,” PressTV added.
The foreign minister reportedly did not elaborate on what possibilities were on the table or which relevant actors would make such “possibilities” occur.
Iranian officials have spent much of the past two weeks issuing similar threats.
“The continuation of the Zionist regime’s [Israel’s] crimes (in Gaza) and the direct support and backing from certain countries would further complicate the situation and could make other actors intervene in this arena,” the head of Iran’s armed forces, Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, said last week. Baqeri did not name any of the alleged “other actors” who may involve themselves, leaving open the possibility of an Iranian attack.
Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei similarly greenlit the slaughter of Israeli families last week by declaring that none of the 1,400-plus people Hamas tortured and killed were “civilians,” despite the death toll including a large number of children.
“Some officials in certain countries, who have spoken with our officials, have protested in defense of the Zionist occupiers as to why Palestinians have killed civilians,” Khamenei said. “Firstly, this statement is contrary to the truth. Those who live in [Israeli] settlements are not civilians.”
Khamenei threatened an “uncontrollable Muslim reaction” to any attempt by Israel to protect its people.
“If these crimes continue, the Muslims and the resistance forces will become impatient, (and) no one would be able to stop them,” Khamenei predicted, according to Tasnim. “This is a fact that exists. Of course, whatever the Zionist regime does, it will not be able to make up for the scandalous failure it suffered.”
Iran reiterated its support for both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in phone calls between the terrorist groups’ respective leaders and Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian foreign minister, on Monday.
Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s “political bureau,” thanked the Iranian government for its support to the terrorists via alleged “active Islamic diplomacy” and called Israel’s government “neo-Nazi.”
In his call, Islamic Jihad’s leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah promised Amir-Abdollahian that his group would continue to engage in terrorism against Israel.
“We will vigorously continue to fight against the Zionist regime’s extensive aggression. The enemy won’t be able to shatter the resistance’s determination,” he vowed.
The Iranian government has failed to credit Islamic Jihad with the killing of dozens of Palestinians at the al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, despite extensive evidence supporting this conclusion. Instead, it has repeatedly blamed the Israeli military.
This aerial view shows people standing before destroyed buildings at the site of the Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza on October 18, 2023, in the aftermath of an overnight strike there. (SHADI AL-TABATIBI/AFP via Getty Images).
“Every drop of blood of every Palestinian that is spilled on the ground brings the Zionist regime one step closer to its fall,” Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said following the hospital bombing, referring to Israelis as “anthropomorphic” but not human.
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