Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Tuesday that Israel and the United States will never be able to wipe out Hamas.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian attends a side event during an event commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, December 12, 2023. Reuters/Denis Balibouse
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Tuesday that Israel and the United States will never be able to wipe out Hamas and that Israel could only secure the release of hostages held in Gaza with a political solution to the conflict.
In a speech at the United Nations in Geneva in which he described the Islamist group as a freedom movement, Amirabdollahian said: "Israel and the United States will never be able to eliminate Hamas."
He added that Israel, which has vowed to wipe out Tehran-backed Hamas, could only achieve the return of hostages taken by Hamas during a deadly rampage on Oct. 7 by a political solution.
Amirabdollahian was speaking at a meeting alongside counterparts from other Middle Eastern countries.
"All the ministers agree that the strikes by the criminal Israeli regime and the genocide it is committing has to stop immediately," Amirabdollahian said following the meeting.
"The Rafah border crossing has to be open, humanitarian aid has to reach every part of Gaza and the forced displacement of the people of Gaza must stop," he added, referring to the crossing into Egypt used to bring humanitarian aid into the enclave.
Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber and Cécile Mantovani in Geneva, and Elwely Elwelly in Dubai; Editing by Rachel More and Nick Macfie
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