LONDON: Iran’s charge d’affaires in the UK has warned Israeli attacks on Gaza could have unpredictable results across the Middle East.
Mehdi Hosseini Matin said UK interests could be affected if the conflict were to spread beyond Gaza, but denied any Iranian involvement in military decisions made by Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen, and claimed Iran did not control what he called the various “resistance forces” surrounding Israel.
“The situation in the Middle East is very dangerous and very volatile,” Matin told a press briefing at the Iranian Embassy in London.
“Every movement by the Israeli regime, including an attack against the people of Gaza, definitely escalates the situation and will be expanded to other areas. No one can predict what will happen exactly.”
Matin said Iran was working with other nations in the region to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and to establish humanitarian corridors.
He said: “Our position is to prevent escalation but we are not in a position to control any groups inside the Middle East — Islamic groups or any national groups.
“No one can (tell) the Islamic resistance groups in the Middle East what to do and (what) not to do.”
He added that the conflict “represents a new chapter for Islamic countries as Palestine is becoming one of the most important issues for the identity of the Islamic world.”
Matin also suggested the attack on Oct. 7 by Hamas militants on Israeli civilians, which left around 1,300 Israelis dead, was justified.
“All of the things that have been done by Hamas and Islamic groups are just self-defense,” he said. “The terror, the atrocities, the occupation and apartheid are linked with the Israelis.”
Matin said he believed the US and UK governments had counseled Israel against a ground invasion of Gaza, and added that Islamic countries had been left with no choice but to impose sanctions on Israel as a result of its actions.
