Iran has warned it could be forced to take ‘pre-emptive action’ against Israel in the ‘coming hours’ as the Jewish nation prepares for a ground offensive on the Gaza strip.
Tehran has repeatedly warned that an invasion of Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts – after a day where Israel also faced threats from Lebanon in the north.
The declarations of intent have rapidly heightened tensions in the fraught Middle East, sparking fears of a wider conflict in the coming days.
It comes as the United States told 2,000 troops to prepare to deploy to the region and moved a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian – referring to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday – said: ‘The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours.’
It comes as the United States told 2,000 troops to prepare to deploy to the region and moved a second aircraft carrier to the eastern Mediterranean.
Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian – referring to his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Saturday – said: ‘The possibility of pre-emptive action by the resistance axis is expected in the coming hours.’
He said that ‘the resistance leaders’ will not allow Israel ‘to do whatever it wants in Gaza’.
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi also warned that time was running out to reach a political solution and warned against the expansion of the Israel-Hamas war to other fronts.
But European governments have warned the nations to take all necessary measures to avert war.
France’s Foreign Finister Catherine Colonna – speaking from Beirut – said: ‘Lebanese officials have a responsibility… to do everything possible to prevent Lebanon from being dragged into a spiral.’
Repeated fire in recent days has claimed lives on both sides of the UN-patrolled border between Lebanon and Israel, which remain technically at war.
If Israel does invade the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in its war on Hamas, Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement has warned it may escalate its military involvement.
And Germany warned Iran not to ‘pour oil on the fire’ of the Israel-Hamas war, after the country’s foreign minister met with high-ranking Hamas officials.
‘Anyone who wants to play with fire in this situation and pour oil on the fire or ignite it in any other way should really think twice because we are facing a potentially major regional conflict,’ foreign ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said.
