Iran’s Raisi Says Israeli Actions ‘May Force Everyone’ to Act

A handout picture provided by Iran's Presidency on October 28, 2023, shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during an interview with the Qatari state-owned news television network Al-Jazeera in Tehran. (Photo by Handout / Iranian Presidency / AFP)
A handout picture provided by Iran's Presidency on October 28, 2023, shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during an interview with the Qatari state-owned news television network Al-Jazeera in Tehran. (Photo by Handout / Iranian Presidency / AFP)
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Iran’s Raisi Says Israeli Actions ‘May Force Everyone’ to Act

A handout picture provided by Iran's Presidency on October 28, 2023, shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during an interview with the Qatari state-owned news television network Al-Jazeera in Tehran. (Photo by Handout / Iranian Presidency / AFP)
A handout picture provided by Iran's Presidency on October 28, 2023, shows Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during an interview with the Qatari state-owned news television network Al-Jazeera in Tehran. (Photo by Handout / Iranian Presidency / AFP)

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday said Israel's ongoing bombardment of Gaza "may force everyone" to act in the latest warning issued by Tehran since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Israel has been pounding the tiny Palestinian territory since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7 and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Since then, more than 8,000 people have been killed, half of them children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, an impoverished strip of land which is home to 2.4 million people.

"The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action," Raisi said on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

"Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel," he said.

"The US sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield," he said, using a term often used by Iranian officials to refer to Iran and its allies like Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi militias and other Shiite forces in Iraq and Syria.

Although it was not immediately clear what he was referring to, there have been a string of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon border since the Gaza conflict began.

Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, hailed the October 7 attacks as a "success".

But it has insisted it was not involved in the onslaught, during which 230 people were also taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

"Iran considers it its duty to support the resistance groups, but ... the resistance groups are independent in their opinion, decision, and action," the Iranian president said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, according to excerpts released by state news agency IRNA.

"The United States knows very well our current capabilities and knows that they are impossible to overcome," he said.



Mexico Plans Alert App for Migrants Facing Arrest in US after Trump Threats of Deportations

A demonstrator at a Mexico-US border crossing in Tijuana holds a banner with the image of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants - AFP
A demonstrator at a Mexico-US border crossing in Tijuana holds a banner with the image of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants - AFP
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Mexico Plans Alert App for Migrants Facing Arrest in US after Trump Threats of Deportations

A demonstrator at a Mexico-US border crossing in Tijuana holds a banner with the image of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants - AFP
A demonstrator at a Mexico-US border crossing in Tijuana holds a banner with the image of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed a mass deportation of undocumented immigrants - AFP

Mexico will launch a mobile application with an alert button for migrants facing imminent detention in the United States, the government said Friday, following President-elect Donald Trump's threats of mass deportations.

"If you find yourself facing imminent arrest, you press an alert button that sends a signal to the nearest consulate," Mexican Foreign Minister Juan Ramon de la Fuente told a news conference, AFP reported.

The app, which is expected to be ready in January, will also notify the person's family and the Mexican foreign ministry, he added.

There were an estimated four million unauthorized Mexican immigrants in the United States in 2022, according to the US-based Pew Research Center.

Mexico has dozens of consulates across the neighboring country.

The Mexican government has been in talks with other countries including Guatemala and Honduras about their own contingency plans for possible mass deportations after Trump takes office on January 20, according to De la Fuente.

He said there would be a ministerial-level meeting between countries that are sources of migrants later to discuss the issue.

Trump has promised to declare a national emergency at the border with Mexico and expel millions who lack residency papers, calling the arrival of migrants an "invasion."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has said her government is preparing a document highlighting the contribution of Mexican workers to the US economy.