Israel wants to drag the Middle East into a full-blown war by provoking Iran to join the nearly year-old conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, Iran’s president said on Monday, warning of its “irreversible” consequences.
Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking to a group of journalists after his arrival in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, said: “We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be irreversible”
“We want to live in peace, we don’t want war,” he added. “It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict.”
Pezeshkian, a relatively moderate politician who was elected in July promising a pragmatic foreign policy, accused the international community of silence in the face of what he called “Israel’s genocide” in Gaza.
Pezeshkian’s call to resolve the Middle East conflict through dialogue came after Israel unleashed an intense wave of air strikes against Hezbollah on Monday, making it the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed group.
Pezeshkian, a relatively moderate politician who was elected in July promising a pragmatic foreign policy, accused the international community of silence in the face of what he called “Israel’s genocide” in Gaza.
Pezeshkian’s call to resolve the Middle East conflict through dialogue came after Israel unleashed an intense wave of air strikes against Hezbollah on Monday, making it the deadliest day in Lebanon in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed group.
“We will defend any group that is defending its rights and itself,” Pezeshkian said, when asked whether Iran will enter the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. He did not elaborate.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, also in New York, described the situation as nearly a full-fledged war. He urged world leaders to do all they could to stop it, adding: “Here in New York is the moment to do that.”
Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from towns and villages on both sides of the border by near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah. Israel has said it prefers a diplomatic solution that would have Hezbollah moved farther back from the border.
However, Hezbollah, which also says it wants to avoid all-out conflict, says that only an end to the war in Gaza will stop the fighting. Gaza ceasefire efforts are deadlocked after months of faltering talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.