Top Iranian envoy warns ‘preemptive action’ against Israel expected soon

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian on Monday warned that preemptive action against Israel could be expected “in the coming hours,” due to its bombing of Gaza, according to Iranian state TV.

Amirabdollahian said that Israel — which is waging an air campaign against the Palestinian militant group Hamas with a ground invasion expected soon — won’t be allowed to take such actions in the Gaza Strip without repercussions.  

“Leaders of the resistance will not allow [Israel] to take any action in Gaza … All options are open and we cannot be indifferent to the war crimes committed against the people of Gaza,” Amirabdollahian told state TV, as translated by Reuters.  

“The resistance front is capable of waging a long-term war with [Israel] … in the coming hours, we can expect a preemptive action by the resistance front,” he added. “If the crimes in Gaza do not stop immediately, new fronts will be opened.” 

Israel since Oct. 7 has been at war with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. The conflict has claimed more than 4,000 lives and counting on both sides after Hamas’s deadly surprise assault on Israel by land, air and sea.  

The conflict has unsettled the region, with U.S. officials concerned that the Iran-backed Hezbollah might choose to open a second front in the fight. Hezbollah and Israel last fought a monthlong war in 2006.  

“We want to send a pretty strong message. We do not want this to broaden, and the idea is for Iran to get that message loud and clear,” new Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Charles Q. Brown said last week.

Iran, which also backs Hamas, has denied any involvement in the planning of that attack, but the country’s leaders have seemed to revel in Israel’s intelligence failure in not suspecting Hamas’s plans.  

Earlier Monday, Amirabdollahian posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that “time is running out for political solutions” to the war.