to report «iusnews»; Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani warned that an Israeli ground incursion in the Gaza Strip will further inflame tensions in the region, slamming the US for supporting the Zionist regime’s bombardment of the besieged enclave.
Brig. Gen. Ashtiani raised the alarm during a telephone conversation with his Iraqi counterpart Thabet Al-Abbas on Friday as the Israel Defense Forces has massed military personnel and equipment at the Gaza border.
"The entry of Israeli troops into Gaza and a ground operation there will make the situation more complicated concerning humanitarian and security," Ashtiani said.
The minister added the US government supports the brutal Israeli regime by sending shipments of military equipment and supplying the requirements of the Tel Aviv regime from its bases in the region.
The defense chief pointed to the US veto of a UN Security Council resolution calling for a pause in Israel's attacks and crimes against the people of Gaza, emphasizing that the move would act as a "license" for the regime to kill more oppressed Palestinian people, especially in Gaza.
Ashtiani stated the visits by US President Joe Biden and other statesmen to the occupied territories prove they seek to cause more complication in the region "but they should know there is a threshold to Muslims' tolerance".
He said the continuation of Gaza's blockade and the non-issuance of permission to send humanitarian aid will lead to a "humanitarian catastrophe".
"It is necessary to know that regional nations will not tolerate the continuation of this regime's crimes," he warned.
The defense chief added Iran's Defense Ministry is ready to dispatch humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, to help people in the besieged territory.
The Iranian defense minister noted that Israel has been committing crimes against the residents of Gaza for 75 years "with the support of Western countries and the United States."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes Operation Al-Aqsa Storm and the actions of Hamas fighters have been carried out within the framework of legitimate defense and counteraction to the occupation of the Palestinian land," Ashtiani continued.
The Iraqi defense minister, for his part, said Baghdad has strongly condemned Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people and firmly opposes any normalization of ties with the regime.
He added the Iraqi prime minister is holding consultations with officials of Arab and Muslim countries to reinforce unity and help the oppressed people in Gaza.
Al-Abbas also voiced Iraq's readiness to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
As Israel prepares to launch a ground offensive on the besieged enclave, Defense Minister Gallant told troops on Thursday they will soon see Gaza “from inside”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also met with the Golani brigade – one of the oldest in Israel’s military – at an assembly point near Gaza. The meeting, which was posted on Netanyahu’s X account, comes amid expectations Israel will soon launch a ground military operation against Gaza.
Iran warns if diplomatic push to stop Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip failed and Zionists launch a ground offensive, the resistance front will turn the besieged enclave into a graveyard for aggressors.
The warning came as the war enters its third week and the coastal enclave is facing a critical humanitarian crisis, with shortages of water, electricity, food, fuel and medicine.
Gaza has been hit by a relentless barrage of Israeli fire following an attack by the Hamas fighters on October 7, which Israel confirms killed at least 1,400 people. The group has announced it was in response to the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and Israeli settlers’ growing violence against Palestinians.
Israel’s military campaign since has killed at least 4,100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry.
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported at least 30% of the housing sector in the Gaza Strip has been either destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, while hospitals are overwhelmed with patients.
Israel’s military has also ordered 1.1 million people living in Northern Gaza to evacuate their homes, amid signs it is set to ramp up its offensive.
The UN warned it is “impossible for such a movement to take place without devastating humanitarian consequences". The World Health Organization (WHO) has also cautioned that a mass evacuation of the Northern Gaza Strip would be "disastrous" for hospital patients, with hospitals in the South already at full capacity.
The OCHA also announced that the number of internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip increased to 1.4mln people, and more than 544,000 individuals are now in emergency shelters "in increasingly dire conditions”.
Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on Earth, where some 2 million people live in an area of 140 square miles. It has been almost completely cut off from the rest of the world for nearly 17 years. More than half of its population lives in poverty and is food insecure, with nearly 80% of its population relying on humanitarian assistance.
Human rights groups have stressed that depriving an occupied population of basic necessities is a war crime. Palestinian health officials have warned Gaza is rapidly running out of water and electricity, and the population faces severe shortages of food and medicine. They say hospitals in the besieged territory are under constant bombardment and facing imminent shutdown due to a lack of fuel.
Tehran says the history of the apartheid regime is full of assassinations, massacre, torture and killing of Palestinian kids, and described Tel Aviv regime's atrocities and massacre of Palestinian women and children as indicative of the destitute of Zionists. Iranian officials say the Tel Aviv regime has been struggling for more than 70 years to exit its identity crisis which has been mixed with genocide, plunder, forced displacement and scores of other inhumane moves.