Iranian foreign minister threatens Israel, says 'expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable'

Since the beginning of the Hamas-Israel war, the Iranian regime has regularly threatened that the conflict could escalate and spread across the region.

On Thursday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian reportedly repeated this threat, when he told his Qatari counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, that the expansion of war is “inevitable.”

“Due to the expansion of the intensity of the war against Gaza’s civilian residents, expansion of the scope of the war has become inevitable,” Amir-Abdollahian said, according to Iranian state media.

Amir-Abdollahian and Al Thani strongly condemned “the attacks of the Zionist regime against civilians,” and discussed ways to “end the brutal attacks of the Israeli regime.” 

The Iranian foreign minister's threat echoes the one made by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Oct. 29, who warned that Israel’s ongoing operations in Gaza to eliminate Hamas “may force everyone” to act.

“The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action,” Raisi wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel.”

Some of Iran’s proxies have already sought to expand the scope of the war, threatening to open new fronts and openly attacking Israel. Since the heinous Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, Hezbollah in Lebanon, one of Iran’s most formidable proxies in the region with more than 150,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal, has been launching daily attacks on Israel’s northern border. So far two Israeli civilians and four IDF soldiers have been killed during the clashes.

On Friday, four Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded as a result of Hezbollah missile and drone attacks against army positions in northern Israel.

Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah, however, despite expectations, did not state whether Hezbollah will launch a full-scale war against Israel during his speech Nov. 3.

“Some would like Hezbollah to engage in an all-out war, but I can tell you: What is happening now along the Israeli-Lebanese border is significant, and it is not the end.”

In October, Iran’s Houthi proxies in Yemen declared war on Israel and launched drones and missiles against the Jewish state on Oct. 18, which were intercepted by a U.S. warship in the Red Sea.

On Oct. 27, the Houthis launched another drone and missile attack, which landed in Egypt. The latest Houthi attack took place on Thursday and was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow 3 missile defense system.

In addition, it is believed that the drone that hit a school in Eilat in southern Israel on Thursday was launched by terrorists in southern Syria. In response, the IDF confirmed it had carried out airstrikes inside Syria. 

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah have fired an estimated total of 9,500 rockets against Israeli cities since the Oct. 7 massacre, the majority of them fired from Gaza. 

The U.S. has reportedly warned both Hezbollah and Iran that it is ready to act militarily against them if they expand the scope of the ongoing war between Hamas and Israel.