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.



UK Detects Human Case of Bird Flu, Says Wider Risk Remains Low

Test tube is seen labelled "Bird Flu" in front of the US flag in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Test tube is seen labelled "Bird Flu" in front of the US flag in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
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UK Detects Human Case of Bird Flu, Says Wider Risk Remains Low

Test tube is seen labelled "Bird Flu" in front of the US flag in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Test tube is seen labelled "Bird Flu" in front of the US flag in this illustration taken, June 10, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

British health authorities said on Monday they had detected a case of the H5N1 bird flu in a person in central England but added that the risk to the wider public remained "very low".

The person acquired the infection on a farm, where they had close and prolonged contact with a large number of infected birds, the UK Health Security Agency said in a statement, Reuters reported.

It said the individual was currently well and that authorities were tracing all known contacts of the person to offer antiviral treatment.

"We have robust systems in place to detect cases early and take necessary action, as we know that spillover infections from birds to humans may occur," UKHSA Chief Medical Adviser Susan Hopkins said.

Bird-to-human transmissions of avian influenza are rare in Britain although it has occurred a small number of times.

British authorities have detected cases of bird flu in poultry farms in recent months and have taken steps to cull all infected animals.