TEHRAN, Oct 22 (AFP/AP): Iran's foreign minster on Sunday warned Israel and its ally the United States that the Middle East risks spiralling out of control as a result of Israel's war on Hamas.
"I warn the US and its proxy (Israel)... that if they do not immediately stop the crime against humanity and genocide in Gaza, anything is possible at any moment and the region will go out of control," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a joint news conference in Tehran with his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will visit the Iranian capital Tehran on Monday for talks with regional counterparts, his ministry's spokeswoman has confirmed.
Iran's official IRNA news agency reported earlier that the foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia had been invited to meet for the talks.
"We confirm Lavrov's planned talks in Tehran on Monday," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the TASS and RIA news agencies.
The talks come amid tensions over the Middle East and unresolved disputes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which launched a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists in Nagorno-Karabakh last month.
Since launching its assault in Ukraine last year, Russia has turned to Iran for military support and economic partnerships as both countries face a raft of Western sanctions.
Western countries have accused Tehran of supporting Russia's offensive in Ukraine by providing it with large quantities of drones and other weaponry.
US activates deployment of defense
systems 'throughout' Mideast
The Pentagon Saturday moved to step up its military readiness in the Middle East, ordering activation of air defense systems "throughout" the region and alerting additional US forces that they may be deployed soon.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement that the moves were in response to "recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East."
Austin did not say how many additional US troops would be deployed to the region.
'Stop, stop!' Pope urges
over Hamas-Israel rift
Pope Francis pleaded Sunday for an end to the Hamas-Israeli conflict amid fears it could widen, and called for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into to the Gaza Strip.
"War is always a defeat, it is a destruction of human fraternity. Brothers, stop! Stop!" Francis said after his traditional Angelus prayer in Rome's Saint Peter's Square.
"I renew my call for spaces to be opened, for humanitarian aid to continue to arrive and for hostages to be freed," the 86-year-old pontiff said.
Hamas militants stormed into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people.
Israel's retaliatory bombing campaign has killed more than 4,300 Palestinians, mainly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and reduced swathes of densely populated Gaza to smouldering ruins.
Alarm has grown about a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where Israel has cut off water, food and power.
A first trickle of aid entered the besieged Strip on Saturday, but UN officials said the 20 trucks permitted to cross were not enough given the "catastrophic" humanitarian situation for 2.4 million people.
Two US hostages were released Friday but over 200 people abducted by the militants are still being held.
