Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
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Iranian FM: The Region will Enter New Phase through 'Resistance Forces'

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian receives his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry headquarters in central Tehran (IRNA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian warned of the expansion of the war amid the renewed Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, saying that the region will enter a new phase "through resistance forces."

On Sunday, the foreign minister made the remarks during a press conferen with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi in Tehran.

The two ministers discussed the recent developments in Gaza amid reports about a possible Oman mediation in the Iranian nuclear program.

Amirabdollahian said that the new phase of the Israeli attacks on Gaza began with the presence of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at the ministerial meeting of the Zionist entity.

He added that the US must bear the consequences of this hypocritical behavior in supporting Israel, saying Washington claims it recommends Israel does not kill civilians while granting it the green light for genocide.

For more than 50 days, "we have been following the developments in Palestine to return stability and security in the region and stop the killing and genocide of the Zionist regime in Gaza," he said.

The leaders of the resistance warned that if the Israeli attacks continue, the region will enter a new phase, he indicated, warning that the killing of children and women must stop before it is too late.

He asserted that Iran never wanted the war to expand, but the warmongers in the region were strongly warned to stop their support for Israeli crimes.

He said that there is documented evidence that the Zionist regime is seeking to displace people in the Gaza Strip forcibly.

"In a part of the documents that were seized by the Resistance forces during the al-Aqsa Storm operation and in a part of the laptops that were captured, this hypothesis has been proven that the Israeli regime seeks to relocate all the residents of Gaza to a part of the territory and land of Egypt, and it seeks to transfer the residents of the West Bank to parts of Jordan," he noted.

"We hope that our brothers in Egypt will take immediate and serious action to reopen the Rafah border crossing and prevent this Israeli conspiracy against the territorial integrity of Jordan and Egypt."

- Discussing nuclear power

Earlier, the official IRNA agency reported that the two ministers were scheduled to discuss developing cooperation, achieving a ceasefire in the Strip, and delivering humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza.

Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Busaidi and his Iranian counterpart discussed over the phone Israel's resumption of war crimes in Gaza without any regard to the international community and global public opinion.

Busaidi warned against the outbreak of war and its expansion in the region, stressing the necessity of establishing a sustainable truce, sending humanitarian aid on a large scale, and establishing an effective international action.

Iranian media expected Busaidi's visit to Tehran to be within the context of exchanging messages between Tehran and Washington to prevent the expansion of tension in the region.

During the past two months, Iranian officials welcomed an Omani initiative proposed by Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.

However, they noted it was not a new agreement or a new plan but rather a practical initiative to converge views between Washington and Tehran and the return of all parties to the 2015 agreement.

Last week, the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said in press statements that talks with Iran might require a new framework rather than an attempt to revive the 2015 accord.

- Borrell urges Tehran to cooperate constructively

The nuclear agreement was part of the telephone conversation between Amirabdollahian and EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell.

The Foreign Ministry reported on Saturday that Amirabdollahian called on Borrell to stop the Israeli military attacks on the Strip and allow the entry of humanitarian aid.

The Iranian diplomat repeated previous warnings against displacing Palestinians and warned of the possibility of expanding the war in the region.

The two officials also addressed Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency's cooperation, and Amirabdollahian noted that the "cooperation will continue within a technical and legal framework."

Borrell expressed hope that constructive cooperation between Iran and the IAEA will continue.

Meanwhile, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi defended his country's positions in the Gaza war.

Speaking on Sunday at the "Second National Conference on Responsibility for the Implementation of the Constitution," Raisi said Iran's support for Gaza and Palestine is wholly based on the constitution's principles, which considers the protection of the oppressed as one of its duties.

"Since the beginning of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, one of the basic principles and approaches of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has been to support the rights of the Palestinian people and to recognize this issue as the first issue of the Islamic world."

He asserted that the principle is still standing and that global political developments will not change the primary direction of foreign policy.

Raisi reiterated that 6,000 children killed by the "Zionist usurpers will bring down this fake, cruel and usurping regime."



Japan Expresses Concern to China over Russia-North Korea Ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (R), shake hands before a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 04 November 2024. EPA/Mikhail Tereshchenko / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (R), shake hands before a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 04 November 2024. EPA/Mikhail Tereshchenko / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool
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Japan Expresses Concern to China over Russia-North Korea Ties

Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (R), shake hands before a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 04 November 2024. EPA/Mikhail Tereshchenko / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (R), shake hands before a meeting at the Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia, 04 November 2024. EPA/Mikhail Tereshchenko / Sputnik / Kremlin Pool

Japan's top national security official said he conveyed "serious concerns" to China's foreign minister over North Korea's deepening ties with Russia after the pair held talks in Beijing.

Their meeting on Monday was four and a half hours long, according to Japanese media, which said the two also discussed a possible head-to-head between President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba this month at a summit in Peru.

"Regarding current events on the Korean Peninsula, cooperation between Russia and the DPRK came up as a topic of discussion," Takeo Akiba told reporters late Monday, using the acronym of North Korea's official name.

"I conveyed our country's serious concerns about this," he added after the talks with Wang Yi.

The United States and its allies say they believe up to 10,000 North Korean troops are on the brink of entering combat in Ukraine from Russia's side.

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted the North Korean foreign minister, who has previously said the country will stand by Russia until its "victory" in Ukraine.

China considers Russia and North Korea its close partners. Washington has also expressed to China its concerns over Moscow and Pyongyang's deepening military engagement.

Monday's high-level talks were at China's invitation, Japanese government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.

Akiba said he and Wang "affirmed that our two countries share the broad direction of promoting our strategic and mutually beneficial relations as well as building constructive and stable relations".

Relations between Japan and China have worsened as Beijing builds up its military capacity in the region, and as Japan boosts security ties with the United States and its allies.

Prime Minister Ishiba -- who took office just one month ago and could lead a minority government after his ruling coalition lost its majority in snap elections -- is hoping to meet Xi on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru from November 10-16.

Akiba also reiterated Tokyo's concerns about the fatal stabbing of a Japanese schoolboy in Shenzhen in September, he said.