Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations’ humanitarian and reconstruction chief for Gaza, sat down with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Strip, the IRNA state news agency reported.
“Kaag and Araghchi exchanged views on a number of regional issues, especially the situation in Gaza and the ways U.N. is leading aid and humanitarian efforts in the besieged Palestinian Strip,” Tehran said on Sunday, sharing photos and video footage of the talks in New York.
Araghchi was also said to have welcomed International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric Egger at his hotel, to discuss “a wide range of issues revolving around ICRC’s mission in West Asia, particularly its work to save war-ravaged Palestinians in Gaza.”
Kaag and Spoljaric Egger’s offices did not respond to messages seeking comment on Sunday on how the U.N. and ICRC, respectively, view the Islamic Republic’s role in improving the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Last week, Araghchi vowed to keep up Tehran’s “unlimited support” for terrorist groups throughout the Middle East, including in the Gaza Strip.
Some 500 terrorists affiliated with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad trained in Iran ahead of the Oct. 7 massacre, The Wall Street Journal reported last year. Iran has officially hailed the attacks as a “success.”
Kaag, whom the United Nations appointed in December to oversee its humanitarian and reconstruction efforts for Palestinians, has yet to move her residence and offices to the Gaza Strip after promising to do so in a June 11 interview, JNS reported last month.
“The Office of the Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza is currently based in Amman, Jordan, with an office in Gaza,” a spokesperson for Kaag’s office stated in response to a query by JNS.
Kaag “uses her extensive network to engage with key governments and other stakeholders at the highest political level” to coordinate aid and reconstruction efforts amid the war against Hamas, the statement said.
In an interview with the BBC on Sept. 16, Kaag described ongoing talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Gaza aid efforts as “constructive.”
Asked about reports that Hamas steals most of the aid and sells it to the population in order to finance its terrorist activities, the U.N. official replied: “We hear that a lot. I find that very difficult to confirm.”
Kaag described UNRWA, the U.N. agency accused of collaborating with Hamas terrorists, as “the backbone of the totality of U.N. delivery.”
Meanwhile, Spoljaric Egger last year blamed the Jewish state for Hamas’s refusal to let the Red Cross visit the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza, saying that Jerusalem and the terrorist group were both responsible.
One hundred and one hostages—alive and dead—remain in Hamas captivity almost a year after they were taken during the Oct. 7 invasion.
