To this end, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdullahian started his regional tour on Friday to discuss regional developments with Qatari, Lebanese, and Syrian officials. In his first stop, Lebanon, the top Iranian diplomat met with senior officials and Hezbollah leader.
Amir-Abdullahian, in a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib, emphasized that Tehran is against any expansion of the range of war in the region, adding that the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli regime see their existence tied to the expansion of the war, and the Americans have contradictory stances, and while declaring its opposition to the expansion of war, the American administration fully supports the Israeli regime and has not stopped sending weapons to the regime even for a single day.
Stressing on the need for all sides to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, FM Amir-Abdullahian said that “concerning Lebanon’s home affairs, we are sure that the political leaders have enough wisdom and acuteness to settle internal affairs, and Lebanon supports any Lebanese decision and does not want but good for Lebanon.
In a meeting with caretaker PM Najib Mikati, Amir-Abdullahian maintained that the Palestinians themselves should decide on the future of Palestine, adding that “we are aware that they have plans and political initiatives for post-war period.”
Also, the Iranian FM held a conversation with Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah. In the meeting, the latest developments in the region were discussed, focusing on the situation of war and genocide in Gaza, as well as the clashes with Israeli army on the Lebanese border with the occupied territories.
Sayyed Nasrallah appreciated the supports to Palestine of Iranian Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, President Sayyed Ibrahim Raisi, and the Iranian nation and highlighted the strong power of the resistance and the coordination of the resistance groups in their support to Palestine and Gaza.
“The Zionist enemy is in a strategic crisis and has not achieved any of its goals... Without a doubt, the victory of the Palestinian nation and resistance is inevitable,” he said.
In this meeting, Amir-Abdullahian presented a report on Iran’s diplomatic measures to support Palestine and resistance and focus on an international political solution respecting the rights of the Palestinian people.
He added: “Accepting resistance as the main party in the proposed political initiatives shows the role and position of the resistance in Palestine and the region. The Palestinian resistance has acted with wisdom and power both in the path of resistance and in political arena. Amir-Abdullahian also met with Ziyad al-Nakhalah, the Islamic Jihad chief, and some Hamas officials in Beirut.
Amir-Abdullahian’s visit to Beirut takes place at a time tensions between Hezbollah and the Israeli regime have run high in recent weeks and concerns about the start of a new conflict between the two sides have increased. This trip is made with the aim of strengthening the ‘unity of the fields’ theory among the resistance branches, and the smallest result of these meetings presented itself in Hezbollah’s missile attack on Saturday that targeted the Israeli base Hadab Eita in the north of occupied Palestine and caused casualties to the Israeli occupiers, showing that the Lebanese front is still active.
American, British, and French officials regularly send messages to Hezbollah to maintain tensions with Tel Aviv ad they are highly afraid of Hezbollah involvement in war as this can sink the occupied territories in a massive security crisis. The trio also called on Netanyahu government to avoid provocative actions against Hezbollah.
Nasrallah and other Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly warned that they are ready for any scenario and if Israeli enemy continues its warmongering, they will give a strong response.
Since the beginning of Israel’s attacks on Gaza on October 7, Hezbollah started its rocket launches to the north of the occupied territories in support of the Palestinian people, and in the last four months, it has carried out nearly 1000 attacks on the military and security infrastructure of this regime. These attacks continued with more intensity after the assassination of the resistance commanders in southern Lebanon, something creating terror among the settlers who have said that they will not return to their homes until the threats of the Lebanese resistance are totally removed.
Continuing his tour, Amir-Abdullahian arrived in Damascus on Sunday and talked to senior Syrian officials about recent Israeli attacks on Syria and Palestinian developments. The FM’s visit to Damascus comes as Israeli army has recently ramped up its attacks in Syrian territory, killing a number of resistance members. There is a consensus that these actions need to be responded to punish Tel Aviv for its aggression.
Warning messages to Tel Aviv and Washington
There is no doubt that Amir-Abdullahian’s tour carries important messages to the Israeli regime and its Western backers, telling them that if they continue the war, the Axis of Resistance will take appropriate actions and will not sit on its hands concerning massacre of Gaza people.
As the main supporter of Palestine, the Islamic Republic has always expressed its strong opposition to Israeli and American war crimes and has warned about the consequences of expanding range of war in the region, but the occupiers have turned a deaf ear and beat drums of war in the region.
The tour comes at a time Netanyahu’s hard-line government rejected the ceasefire agreements in Gaza that were brokered by international and regional mediators, arguing they would not accept Hamas’s terms. Some political analysts interpreted the trip as a measure to influence the outcome of negotiations on the Gaza war through heightening pressures on Tel Aviv as it rejects Paris ceasefire initiative.
In Israeli officials’ viewpoint, halting the war at this time would serve the interests of Hamas. By starting a new round of attacks on the city of Rafah—the only crossing for aid to the people of Gaza through Egypt— Netanyahu’s government is trying to force-relocate Palestinians to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and other countries, a scenario that Axis of Resistance and the international community strongly oppose.
Amir-Abdullahian’s tour is significant since Tehran wants to send a message to Tel Aviv that the resistance branches in the region are united and ready for any scenario, and if Gaza war continues, Israeli regime should not expected a happy ending. In his talks with Nasrallah, the FM warned about full-scale Israeli war on Lebanon, saying that “it would be the last day of the Israeli PM.”
The opening of new fronts against the Israeli regime is a nightmare for Israelis, and if southern Lebanon and the occupied Golan fronts are strengthened, the occupied territories will be targeted from three directions.
Hizballah and Syria have not carried out large-scale retaliatory attacks on the occupied territories so far, but the continuation of Israeli adventures will lead the resistance groups to form a broad joint operation room, because the Israeli occupiers have shown that they only know the language of force and any tolerance will only make them dare to commit more crimes in Gaza.
Netanyahu claimed that Gaza war and undermining the Axis of Resistance will change the region, but over the past four months, the form of reactions by the Axis of Resistance from Yemen to Iraq and Lebanon has shown that there would be fundamental changes, but not in line with Israeli-designed plan and strategy, rather, they give birth to a region without Israeli regime.
Iranian military officials have repeatedly warned Tel Aviv that this regime’s crisis making in the region will not benefit the occupiers and that the Islamic Republic will fully support the resistance groups. Therefore, the presence of Amir-Abdullahian in Beirut and Damascus is an encouragement to these groups, assuring them of unwavering Tehran support.
Now, the Israeli regime is encircled from three fronts. In Gaza, it has sustained heavy losses in confrontation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad and has no choice allowing it to destroy these groups and move out of the self-made quagmire. On Lebanese front, due to Hezbollah’s threats, Tel Aviv keeps one-third of its forces on high alert. But its main weak spot is the Red Sea, where Yemen’s Ansarullah Movement bans Israeli ships. In recent months, Ansarullah cut off Israeli vital arteries by its attacks on Israeli ships, with Israelis devoid of an option to deal with this crisis.
As Israeli and American attacks on Gaza and resistance
groups in Syria and Iraq continue, Resistance camp has its fingers on
the trigger, and should war takes new levels, it will deal painful blows
to the enemy. Actually, just Red Sea front is enough to punish
Washington and Tel Aviv which are politically and militarily desperate
against Ansarullah operations.
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