Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that Iran and the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah may decide to get engaged in the ongoing war in Gaza if they are provoked by Israeli actions.
Lavrov said in an interview with the RT TV channel published on Wednesday that both Iran and Hezbollah have “no appetite” for participating in the Gaza war unless there are provocations from the Israeli regime.
“Neither Iran nor Lebanon wants any involvement in this crisis,” he said.
“There is no appetite from Lebanon and as far as I can judge from the recent statement of Hezbollah leader [Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah; there is no appetite for any big war, unless provoked, unless Gaza is no longer considered as a place where Palestinians should continue to live. And I don’t see any appetite in Iran,” he added.
Hezbollah has been involved in cross-border clashes with Israel since the regime launched a full-scale military operation on the Palestinians in the Mediterranean territory of the Gaza Strip in early October.
The clashes have claimed scores of lives from both Hezbollah and the Israeli side. Hezbollah officials have warned that the confrontation with Israel could escalate if the regime does not stop its massacre of the civilians in Gaza.
Iran has also supported resistance groups in Palestine and their struggle against the Israeli regime. However, Iranian government officials have been pushing other countries in the region and around the world to force Israel to stop the brutal aggression on Gaza that has left more than 11,320 people dead.
Elsewhere in his interview, Lavrov accused the United States of trying to block attempts by countries like Russia to work out a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Basically, in practical terms, Washington does not want to tie Israel's hands,” he said, adding that the US possibly wants the crisis in Gaza to go beyond the region.
The top Russian diplomat also said that the inevitable solution to crisis in Palestine is the formation of a Palestinian state, adding that Moscow has been trying to convey that position to the Israeli regime.