Iran’s new president said on Monday that Israel seeks to drag the Middle East into a full-scale war by provoking Tehran to join the conflict in Lebanon, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
“We want to live in peace, we don’t want war. It is Israel that seeks to create this all-out conflict,” said Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City (Sept. 10-28).
“We do not wish to be the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be irreversible,” he said, adding, “We will defend any group that is defending its rights and itself.”
Pezeshkian did not address Iran’s ongoing effort to obtain nuclear weapons, its promises to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, or the fact that Hezbollah started the conflict when it began firing missiles on Israel’s north on Oct. 8.
The Iranian proxy’s attacks, which have continued nearly daily since, have forced an estimated 60,000 Israelis to flee their homes along the border.
Hezbollah has vowed that the attacks will continue until Israel agrees to end its nearly year-long war against Hamas.
On Sept. 16, the Israeli Security Cabinet announced that it had set the return of the evacuees to their homes as one of its official war goals.
The next day, thousands of pagers worn by Hezbollah terrorists exploded simultaneously in Lebanon and Syria, killing hundreds and wounding thousands. A day later, walkie-talkies blew up, killing and wounding still more members of the terror group.
In response, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a U.S.-designated terror group, ordered all of its members to stop using any type of communication device.
The Israel Defense Forces has not taken credit for the sabotage, but has dramatically expanded its targeting of terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon, hitting 1,600 targets in a single day on Monday.
Israel is demolishing infrastructure built up by Hezbollah over the past two decades, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday.
