The Islamic Republic of Iran has threatened Israel with a “preemptive action” by the so-called “resistance front,” seen as a last-ditch attempt by Tehran to prevent Israeli ground forces from entering Gaza.
“The resistance front is capable of waging a long-term war with the enemy,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in remarks Monday on Iranian state television. “In the coming hours, we can expect a preemptive action by the resistance front,” he said.
“Leaders of the resistance will not allow the Zionist regime to take any action in Gaza,” Abdollahian continued. “All options are open, and we cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza.”
Abdollahian met Saturday in Beirut with the leaders of Iran’s proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, as well as with United Nations Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland. On Sunday he met with Hamas international leader Ismail Haniyeh, and with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in Doha.
“No one can guarantee control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts,” Abdollahian said following those meetings, according to an Iranian foreign ministry statement.
“Those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding need to prevent the current barbaric attacks … against citizens and civilians in Gaza.”
Both Israel and the United States have warned outside actors from interfering in the war launched on October 7 with a barbaric, murderous cross-border attack by Hamas terrorists who slaughtered, tortured, and abducted more than a thousand Jewish villagers living along the Gaza border.
Following the attack, US President Joe Biden warned in a speech, “Let me say again: to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word. Don’t.”
Hezbollah has chosen to disregard that warning, undoubtedly in response to pressure from its Iranian masters, engaging in daily skirmishes with Israel Defense Forces along the Israel-Lebanon border.
