Iran warned the United States this Friday that it “must control Israel” if it wants to avoid a regional war after the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
“The United States wants to allow Israel to destroy Gaza, and that is a serious mistake,” said the head of Iranian diplomacy, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, during a visit to Beirut, quoted by the French agency AFP.
“If the Americans want to prevent the development of a war in the region, they must control Israel,” he warned reporters in the Lebanese capital.
Israel declared war on Hamas after the Palestinian Islamist group carried out an unprecedented incursion into Israeli territory on Saturday.
The conflict caused almost three thousand deaths on both sides and around half a million people were displaced in the Gaza Strip in less than a week.
“If Israeli crimes are not stopped, we do not know what will happen,” warned Iran’s Foreign Minister.
Amir-Abdollahian also stated that “security and peace in Lebanon are important” for Iran, at a time when there are fears that the Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, could open a new front against Israel.
The United States is Israel’s main ally and reaffirmed its support for the country after Saturday’s attack.
Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom.
In 2007, the extremist group took control of the Gaza Strip, a 365-square-kilometer territory where 2.3 million people live.
Source: TSF
