Hamas leader meets Iran FM amid speculation conflict could widen
Iran's Foreign Minister has held a spate of meetings in the past week in which he blamed Israel for the war
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh in Doha on Sunday, as speculation grows that the Israel-Hamas war could expand to include other actors, notably the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group, and possibly even the Islamic Republic itself.
According to reports, Iran has sent Israel a warning of “far-reaching consequences” if it does not halt its bombing of Gaza. Israeli media reported that the warnings, sent both publicly and privately through the United Nations, include Iran saying that it could intervene in the current fighting.
U.S. President Joe Biden, in a speech Tuesday, warned outside parties against intervening, a message reiterated by Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his visit to Israel on Thursday. The Pentagon has sent a second aircraft carrier to the region, the USS Dwight D Eisenhower, to join the USS Gerald R Ford.
In a statement about the meeting with Abdollahian, Hamas said Haniyeh revealed "the motives which led to the launch of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood", Hamas’s name for the murderous assault on southern Israel on October 7, which killed 1,300 Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Haniyeh said the operation marked "a turning point in the history of the Palestinian cause and resistance."
In a related development, the Iranian delegation to the United Nations accused Israel on social media of "war crimes and mass murders" in the Gaza Strip.
On Saturday, the Iranian Foreign Minister met with the UN Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, in Beirut. In the meeting, Abdollahian called the Hamas attack a “natural and legitimate response” to Israel’s “aggressions.”
Iran has been trying to rally the Arab and Muslim world behind Hamas, and President Ebrahim Raisi has already spoken with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and – for the first time since the countries resumed diplomatic ties - with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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Bin Salman has said the kingdom is leading "relentless regional and international efforts to stop the continued escalation." He underlined Saudi Arabia's firm stance alongside the Palestinian people, "in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace."
According to reports, Saudi Arabia has now frozen all negotiations on normalization with Israel. Blinken met with the Crown Prince in Riyadh on Sunday, during which MBS called for an immediate ceasefire. Some analysts think that thwarting efforts at normalization was one of the spurs behind Hamas launching its attack when it did.