Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has warned the United States that if the Israeli regime keeps its genocidal campaign going against the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, Washington will “not be spared from the fire.”
Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during his speech at a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday.
“I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine that we do not welcome (an) expansion of the war in the region. But if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from the fire.”
The Iranian diplomat urged the US “to work for peace and security, not war against people, children and women.”
Instead of sending rockets, tanks, and bombs to be used against Gaza, the Iranian minister said, Washington must stop supporting genocide.
Amir-Abdollahian also said the US is watching and supporting the killing of more than 7,000 civilians in less than three weeks by the Israeli regime in Gaza. The White House is clearly assisting the regime militarily, financially and politically, the minister said.
“The genocide in Gaza must stop immediately. The forced displacement of the people of Gaza must stop immediately.”
Amir-Abdollahian also said the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has the right to self-defense, emphasizing that its large-scale attack against the occupying regime was a reaction to the continuation of the regime’s occupation and aggression against the Palestinians as well as its widespread crimes in recent months.
However, he said, the US and several European countries refer to the occupying and war criminal regime as an entity that has the right to self-defense. “It is certainly not possible to change the places of the killer and the victim by misusing certain expressions.”
“According to international law, as well as hundreds of resolutions approved by this very same Assembly, the entire land of Palestine is an occupied land, and, accordingly, the Israeli regime is recognized as an aggressor and an occupier,” the Iranian diplomat stated.
The Palestinian nation, like any other nation under occupation, has the “legitimate right to resist the occupation using all available methods, including armed struggle.”
“Therefore, the recent hypocritical efforts to introduce the struggle of the Palestinian nation against the occupiers as terrorist actions will not mislead the free nations and the awakened minds around the world,” the Iranian minister said.
Amir-Abdollahian called on the international community to push for the release of 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
On October 7, Hamas launched its biggest operation against Israel in years in a surprise offensive, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
Since then, Israel has pressed ahead with a relentless bombardment of Gaza. The death toll in Gaza since the start of Israeli aggression has reached over 7,000 with more than 18,000 wounded.
Tel Aviv has also blocked water, food, and electricity to Gaza, plunging the besieged territory into a humanitarian crisis.