Iran warned of a regional attack against Israel, including by Tehran unless the IDF halted its aerial bombings of Gaza, as it appeared that the IDF was fighting a war both on its southern and northern borders.
"If the Zionists do not stop their crimes and criminal attacks on the people of Gaza, no one can guarantee that the war will not spread across the region," Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said in a conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
Iran has issued public warnings and sent a private message to Israel through the United Nations that it could intervene if Israel continued its military campaign to root Hamas out of Gaza, according to a report first published by the Walla news site and confirmed by The Jerusalem Post.
On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland in Beirut to discuss the situation.
Amirabdollahian later met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, where they discussed the Palestinian terrorist group's deadly attack in Israel "and agreed to continue cooperation" to achieve the group's goals, Hamas said in a statement.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations posted on X on Saturday, “If the Israeli apartheid’s war crimes [and] genocide are not halted immediately, the situation could spiral out of control [and] ricochet far-reaching consequences, the responsibility of which lies with the UN, the Security Council & the states steering the Council toward a dead end.”
Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday urged France to help "prevent oppression" of Palestinians in a phone call with his counterpart Emmanuel Macron.
The two men spoke on the ninth day of the war, which Israel has dubbed Operation Swords of Iron to expel the Hamas military wing and government from the Gaza Strip in response to its killing of 1,300 civilians and soldiers and the taking over 150 people hostage on October 7th. Over 2,400 Palestinians have been killed due to IDF bombings.
The US and other major powers have engaged in an intense round of diplomacy in an effort to constrain the violence and ensure that Hamas, an Iranian proxy group, remains the only actor violently engaged with Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been in the region since Thursday traveling between Israel and Arab states has looked to calm the situation and ensure the release of the hostages.
Netanyahu, Khamenei, Amiabdollahian make fiery statements
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to "demolish Hamas" as his military prepared to move into the Gaza Strip. Israel has accused Iran of complicity in the October 7 attack, even though Israel has no direct proof of Iran's immediate involvement.
Iran's top authority Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday Tehran was not involved in the militant Hamas group's attack on Israel, but hailed what he called Israel's "irreparable" military and intelligence defeat.
Amiabdollahian, who last week accused Israel of seeking "genocide" by enforcing a siege against the Gaza Strip, said an attack on Gaza would "open new fronts of resistance" in the Middle East.
"The responsibility for the possible opening of new fronts of resistance in the region and any escalation of today's war directly falls on the United States and the Zionist regime (Israel)," Amirabdollahian said.
Sullivan says US has been focused on deterring Iran from the start
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday morning that the US had been concerned by Iran from the start and has warned it not to get involved.
To deter any future attack it moved an aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean,” he explained.
“We have means of communicating privately with Iran. And we have availed ourselves of those means over the past few days to make clear privately that which we have said publicly,” Sullivan said.
US President Joe Biden has publicly that he has only one word to say in response to Iranian threats of involvement - “Don’t.”
Sullivan on Sunday said, “There is a risk of an escalation of this conflict, the opening of a second front in the north, and of course of Iran's involvement- that is a risk.”
The Biden administration has “been mindful” of that threat “since the start. It's why the President moves so rapidly and decisively to get an aircraft carrier into the eastern Mediterranean,” Sullivan explained.
Biden wanted “to send a very clear message of deterrence to any state or any actor that would seek to exploit this situation,” Sullivan added.
Concern about Hezbollah also high
Concern is also high, however, that attacks by Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy group on Israel’s northern border, could also develop into a full-fledged front in the war.
“We are concerned about proxy forces. Lebanese Hezbollah, a proxy force of Iran, is there, a raid on Israel's northern border with considerable military capacity and a history of attacking the State of Israel,” Sullivan told Face the Nation.
“In fact, we have seen in the last few days skirmishes across that northern border that only enhances the risk of escalation. But of course, we can't rule out that Iran would choose to get directly engaged in some way; we have to prepare for every possible contingency,” Sullivan
Wennesland has been among a host of diplomats who have worked to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, secure the release of the hostages, and prevent a regional war against the Jewish State.
Erdan takes issue with Wennesland
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, however, took issue with Wennesland’s meeting with Amirabdollahian, an event that was not publicized by the UN.
He took Wennesland to task for not condemning Iran for its role in supporting Hamas.
“Don’t forget to wash the blood of Israeli babies off your hands after that handshake,” Erdan said in a message he posted on X, that was directed at Wennesland.
“Today (!!!), senior UN official, Tor Wennesland not only met with the Iranian regime’s FM, but didn’t even bother condemning Iran for its role in the massacre of Israeli women and children. It’s no secret that Hamas terrorists are openly praising Iran for funding, arming, and training them,” Erdan wrote.
“At the VERY SAME TIME, Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, openly called on the Muslim world to expand the attack on Israel.
"The UN’s support for and legitimization of genocidal terrorists is a threat to civilization!,” Erdan said.
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said in response, “All of the Special Coordinator’s meetings have been to discuss diplomatic efforts to release hostages, secure humanitarian access and prevent a spillover of the conflict to the wider region. This includes his recent meetings in Lebanon.”
Reuters contributed to this report.