Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday night in Qatar, as the war between Hamas and Israel continued in the Gaza Strip.
Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’s political bureau, has lived in Qatar since late 2019. The meeting on Saturday night was his first official meeting with Iranian officials since Hamas’s assault on southern Israel.
وزير خارجية إيران التقى رئيس حماس اسماعيل هنية قبل قليل في الدوحة—- pic.twitter.com/rIGjuvr7AG
— حسين الغاوي (@halgawi) October 14, 2023
A video published by Iranian media showed Amirabdollahian and Haniyeh hugging, kissing, smiling, and laughing while greeting each other.
During the meeting, the two agreed to “continue cooperation to fully achieve the goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people,” according to a press release by Hamas.
Haniyeh stated that “what comes after this battle is a new history that will not be at all the same as it was before it.”
Amirabdollahian called Hamas’s murder and kidnapping of civilians and soldiers in southern Israel “glorious.”
Amirabdollahian also met with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, telling him that “if the crimes of the Zionist regime against the people and citizens of Palestine continue, no one can guarantee that the situation in the region will remain the same,” according to Iranian media.
The Iranian foreign minister’s visit to Qatar came as part of a round of visits to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon by Amirabdollahian in recent days.
Earlier on Saturday, Haniyeh stressed in a televised speech that “the people of Gaza are rooted in their land and clinging to their homeland, they will not leave.” The Hamas leader, who hasn’t been in Gaza since 2019, added that the Palestinians in Gaza would remain in their homes “even if they are demolished,” according to a press release by Hamas.
Haniyeh also praised Egypt’s refusal to allow Palestinian refugees to enter the country, stating “our decision is to remain in our land and therefore your decision is our decision.”
Iranian FM warns proxies have ‘fingers on the trigger’
During his visit to Beirut, Amirabdollahian warned that all the terrorist groups that are part of the axis led by Iran have their “fingers on the trigger.”
“In case of procrastination by the international community and the United Nations and the activists who support the warmongering of the Israeli regime, the response will be done at the right time and the desired resistance,” said Amirabdollahian. “I found out in the conversation with the leaders that the response that will be given is regrettable and will change the current map of the occupied territories.”
“Based on my understanding of the situation, I warn the war criminals and their supporters in the region to stop Israel’s crimes against civilians before it is too late, maybe it will be too late in a few hours. There is still a political opportunity to avoid a widespread crisis in the region. Today, I will meet with the representative of the UN secretary-general in the region and I will say that there is still a political opportunity, but tomorrow is too late.”
Amirabdollahian met with Nasrallah and other terrorist leaders during his visit to Lebanon.
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