Iran’s Foreign Minister Says Israel ‘Will Receive a Response’ from Other Terror Groups over Gaza Strikes

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly said some of the Islamic Republic’s other proxies — “the rest of the axis” of Palestinian resistance — will respond to Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

“The continuation of war crimes against Palestinians and Gaza will receive a response from the rest of the axis,” he said, according to AFP.

Iran funds and arms Hamas, in addition to other terrorist groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. The regime’s supreme leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, celebrated the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas gunmen last weekend and cheered on the terrorist attacks, while also denying that Iran was behind the killings. The Wall Street Journal has reported that Abdollahian attended coordination meetings as Hamas planned the assault and consulted other Iranian proxies.

Abdollahian’s remarks, during a press conference in Beirut this afternoon, were also reported by Sky News and Al Mayadeen. The comments suggest that Iran’s other proxy forces might also attack Israel. Besides a handful of rocket launches from southern Lebanon, and skirmishes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah forces, the Lebanon-based group has stayed out of the fight.

Iranian officials have warned Israel that it will be met with new attacks if it continues its strikes against Hamas in Gaza, as Abdollahian did earlier today during a meeting with Iraqi prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

“Officials of some countries contact us and ask about the possibility of a new front being opened in the region,” Abdollahian said, according to AFP.

“We tell them that our clear answer regarding future possibilities is that everything depends on the actions of the Zionist regime in Gaza. Even now, Israel’s crimes continue, and no one in the region asks us for permission to open new fronts.”

Khamenei’s comments denying Iranian involvement this week came on the heels of a report in the Wall Street Journal alleging that Abdollahian attended two meetings alongside top officials from Hamas and Hezbollah leading up to the terrorist assault, with Tehran ultimately giving it a green light. The Journal report’s sources included senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials.

Iran denied that it was involved in planning the attack, and while White House officials have called Iran “complicit” in the terrorist killings, they have also said there’s no indication that Iran directed the attacks.

Israeli officials have answered questions about Iran’s possible involvement in Saturday’s killings carefully, emphasizing its historical support for the terrorist groups but stopping short of asserting that it directed the attack.

“Iran has for many, many, many years supported these terrorist organizations and others that bring a reign of terror here and all over the world,” said Lieutenant Colonel Amnon Sheffer, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces, told reporters during a press briefing today. He said he would not comment specifically on Iran’s possible involvement in the current wave of terrorism but that it is possible to look at Iran’s past actions to extrapolate what will happen in the future.