Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, met with the leader of Hezbollah, a powerful Lebanese group that has launched cross-border strikes against Israel, on Friday to discuss Israel’s fight against Hamas.
Amirabdollahian, who landed in Beirut late on Thursday, claimed to have met with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, as well as Najib Mikati, the interim prime minister, and Abdallah Bouhabib, the caretaker foreign minister.
The Iranian minister allegedly discussed Hamas’ strike on Israel with Nasrallah, according to Al-Mayadeen, a local news site. Iran also backs Hamas and has praised the group for attacking Israel, even though Tehran says it had nothing to do with the incident.
This week has seen the most significant escalation between Hezbollah and Israel since their conflict in 2006. The two sides have traded fire across the border, with Israel responding by attacking an observation station belonging to Hezbollah as well as Lebanese communities.
Iran has requested Egypt, which borders Gaza, the United Nations, and aid agencies to allow it to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossein Amir-Ali Amirabdollahian told reporters on Friday. Israel is perpetrating “war crimes” in Gaza.
On Thursday, Amirabdollahian warned that Israel will pay the price for its aggression against the Palestinians if Iran and its allies took action.
The Israeli military has amassed tanks in preparation for a ground invasion, and on Friday they issued an order to all inhabitants in Gaza City (more than a million people) to evacuate to the south within 24 hours.
Later on Friday, Amirabdollahian will arrive in Syria, a day after Israeli air attacks rendered Damascus and Aleppo’s airports inoperable.
