Lebanese and Palestinian fighters loyal to Iran are ready to "pull the trigger" in case of an Israeli ground operation in Gaza, has warned Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.
Iran supports the Hamas movement, which launched the attack on Israel on October 7, prompting a significant retaliation by Israeli forces on the Gaza Strip.
Tehran also has a close relationship with Hezbollah, which launches attacks on Israeli army positions from southern Lebanon.
Amir-Abdollahian met with leaders of Lebanese and Palestinian factions and movements.
"What I gathered from the plans that they have – they have their finger on the trigger," he said, according to the AFP.
In an interview with NPR in New York, where he is attending a General Assembly session on the Gaza war, the FM added that their actions will be "much more powerful and deeper than what you've witnessed."
"I believe that if this situation continues and women and children and civilians are still killed in Gaza and the West Bank, anything will be possible."
He stressed that the fighters will decide on their own about the possible response and not at the request of Iran.
"They have their own calculations for their own security, and as I've said, they decide for themselves," he said.
The US carried out strikes against two Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) facilities and its affiliated groups in eastern Syria.
Ahead of the strikes, US President Joe Biden sent a letter to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, warning Tehran against targeting US personnel in the Middle East.
Earlier this week, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters that US forces had been attacked more than a dozen times in Iraq and Syria in the past week.
Ryder said that since October 17, there have been ten attacks on forces in Iraq and three in Syria.
On Wednesday, Khamenei accused the US of being an accomplice in the crime in Gaza.
