TEHRAN, Dec 9 (AFP) : Iran warned Saturday of the threat of an "uncontrollable explosion" of the situation in the Middle East, after the United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the top diplomat of the Islamic republic, also appealed for the immediate opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to enable humanitarian aid to be sent into the Gaza Strip.
Militants from the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
Israel, whose main ally is the United States, vowed to destroy Hamas in response and unleashed an offensive that the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza says has killed more than 17,400 people in the Palestinian territory, also mostly civilians.
On Friday, the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, saying the resolution "would leave Hamas in place able to repeat what it did on October 7."
"As long as America supports the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel) and the continuation of the war... there is a possibility of an uncontrollable explosion in the situation of the region," Amir-Abdollahian told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in a phone call, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Iran warns of 'explosion' after US veto on Gaza war
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FE Team | Published: December 09, 2023 23:42:07
Iran warns of 'explosion' after US veto on Gaza war
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