Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian discussed developments in the situation in the Middle East in a call with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Monday. He also held a meeting with his Indian counterpart, Subramaniam Jaishankar, during which he stressed that the solution in the Gaza Strip will not be military.
Abdullahian said – in a press conference with his Indian counterpart in Tehran – that the United States has no right to call for restraint while it supports Israeli “killing operations” in Gaza, calling for a diplomatic solution to end the war on the Strip.
The Iranian minister appealed to American officials “not to link American security and national interests to the fate of the Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu), who will fall.”
On the other hand, Abdullahian and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, stressed – during a phone call – the necessity of a ceasefire in Gaza and the urgent provision of humanitarian aid to civilians, according to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
At the same time, the two ministers expressed their strong condemnation of “the intensified attacks on Yemen by a group of countries led by the United States and Britain.”
Since Friday, the United States and Britain have launched military strikes on several areas in Yemen, and the White House said that these strikes target the Ansar Allah Houthi group in response to their attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
The Houthis pledged to respond strongly to these strikes, and to continue their operations, which they say target ships owned or operated by Israeli companies, or that transport goods to and from Israel when they pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, in support of the Palestinians in Gaza. This prompted many major shipping companies to avoid sailing through the Red Sea.