Israel will be annihilated if war on Gaza expands: Iran's deputy foreign minister

Iran's deputy foreign minister for political affairs has warned that if Israel’s ongoing war against the Palestinian resistance in the besieged Gaza Strip expands any further it will lead to total annihilation of the regime.

Ali Bagheri-Kani made the remark in a televised interview on Monday, commenting on the war that the Israeli regime has been waging against the blockaded coastal territory since October 7.

The regime launched the war after Gaza's resistance groups conducted Operation al-Aqsa Storm, their biggest operation against the occupying entity in years, killing at least 1,500 Israeli forces and settlers, and taking hundreds of others captive. Israel's aggression against Gaza has so far killed more than 8,300 civilians, most of them women and children.

Bagheri-Kani described the Palestinian resistance's operation against Israel as "an irreparable earthquake in the Zionist regime's military and security system."

"If the war expands [any further] we cannot say that Israel would lose, because nothing will remain of Israel to be described as loser or winner," Iran's deputy foreign minister said.

His remarks came after earlier on Monday, the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas said Israeli tanks that had advanced near the territory were forced to retreat after heavy clashes.

Hamas says Israeli tanks forced to retreat from Gaza border after fierce fighting

Hamas says Israel’s nonstop airstrikes on the frontlines are proof the Palestinian fighters have the upper hand in the battle.

The movement said the regime’s limited ground incursion followed its failure to perform a broad operation in Gaza.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian official said Operation al-Aqsa Storm also caused "an earthquake in the intellectual and strategic system of the United States-led Western world and in US unilateralism."

"The Americans are [now] plagued by a strategic confusion and cannot guess the resistance's next move to make a decision accordingly," he noted.

The deputy foreign minister also touched on the messages that American officials have been relaying to Iran, adding that Americans allege through the messages that they seek to prevent further expansion of the conflict.

"However, [Americans] themselves are the main party responsible for continuation and expansion of the conflict through their unbridled support for the Zionists," he stated.

Iran warns of new war fronts, expansion of war if US continues support for Israel

Iran’s foreign minister warns new war fronts would open if US continues its all-out support for Israel

"Therefore, the main party responsible for the Zionists' crimes, after Zionists themselves, is Americans. They have said time and again that they stand by Israel without any limitations," Iran's deputy foreign minister noted.

Since the onset of the Israeli war of aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip, the US has provided the regime with thousands of weapons consignments.

Washington has been also supplying the Tel Aviv regime with ample political support by vetoing the United Nations Security Council resolutions that either hold the regime responsible for its atrocities or call for immediate cessation of its aggression.

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