Israel-Hamas war: Israel claims to have isolated Gaza City after “major” attack

A photo released by the Iranian Supreme Leader’s Office shows Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, right, meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, center, and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran on Monday.Credit…Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, via Shutterstock

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Tehran on Monday, telling him their countries needed to coordinate to increase pressure on the United States and Israel to put end to the Israeli military offensive in Gaza, according to official Iranian media.

Mr. al-Sudani visited Iran a day after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken in Baghdad, where the two discussed escalating attacks on U.S. military bases in Iraq and in Syria by Iran-aligned militias, which have been accompanied by threats of a widening war between Israel and Hamas.

The Biden administration is seeking to contain the war, and Mr. Blinken called on Mr. al-Sudani to hold accountable those who allegedly carried out attacks against American personnel, making clear that the United States would retaliate if Iran did not did not control his efforts. forces by proxy.

Mr. Khamenei’s public remarks appeared to dismiss Washington’s warnings.

“The Islamic Republic and Iraq must coordinate to have more impact,” Mr. Khamenei said during the meeting with Mr. al-Sudani, according to Iranian media.

The Pentagon said Monday that there have been 38 attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and Iraq since Oct. 17 and that at least 46 U.S. service members have been injured, including 25 who suffered head injuries. On October 27, the United States carried out airstrikes on two sites in Syria that it said were linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, in retaliation for attacks on U.S. forces.

Mr. Khamenei has repeatedly pledged to destroy Israel and push back U.S. military forces from the region, and leaders of militant groups in Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza view Mr. Khamenei as a powerful ally, often seeking his opinion and consulting him on strategic issues.

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniya was in Tehran on Sunday with a delegation of Hamas officials and also met with Khamenei, according to Iranian media. The two men discussed the war between Israel and Hamas, the killing of Palestinian civilians and tensions in the West Bank, according to a brief official account of the meeting in Iranian media.

Mr Khamenei told Mr Haniya that Iran would continue to “fully support Palestinian resistance groups”, in line with its long-standing policy, and called on Islamic countries to support the people of Gaza. It was not clear from Iranian reports whether Mr. Haniya had requested more military or financial aid from Mr. Khamenei or whether the two had discussed whether and when Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, the most powerful of the proxy militias, should go to war. to help Hamas.

Iranian officials have publicly confirmed they exchanged messages with Washington and said they were not seeking a broader war or direct confrontation with the United States. But they also warned that if Israeli military operations continued to kill Palestinian civilians, the region could, as Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian put it, “spin out of control.”

Mr. Abdollahian said last week in an interview with the New York Times that the war between Israel and Hamas had created a sense of unity between Iran and Muslim Arab countries, including Iranian allies like Iraq. and Qatar, as well as rivals like Saudi Arabia and the United States. United Arab Emirates.

“The scale and intensity of the Israeli regime’s crimes have resulted in unity, cohesion and cooperation between regional countries and Muslim countries,” said Mr. Amir Abdollahian. “We all believe that security is a closely related issue: if there is instability in one part of the region, it will also spread to other parts. »

Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington.

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