Iranian Foreign Minister: We don't want war to spread further, but it could be unavoidable

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the Financial Times that Tehran told the US through back channels that it did not want the Israel-Hamas war to spread further, but also warned Washington that regional conflict could be unavoidable if Israeli attacks on Gaza continue.

“Over the past 40 days, messages have been exchanged between Iran and the US, via the US interests section at the Swiss embassy in Tehran,” Amir-Abdollahian said.

“In response to the US,” he added, “we said that Iran does not want the war to spread, but due to the approach adopted by the US and Israel in the region, if the crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank are not stopped, any possibility could be considered, and a wider conflict could prove inevitable.”

Amir-Abdollahian insisted that Hezbollah and other grouts in the region were not Iran’s proxy forces, saying each had an independent political identity. At the same time, he warned that these groups “are not indifferent towards the killing of their Muslim and Arab peers in Palestine”. READ MORE