Iran, France foreign ministers discuss Gaza war, regional tensions over phone

By Syed Zafar Mehdi

TEHRAN, Iran (AA) – Iran's foreign minister in a phone conversation with his French counterpart on Saturday called for "practical measures" by Paris to end the genocide in Gaza.

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, speaking to Catherine Colonna, said practical actions are required to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza, facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid, prevent forced migration, and leave the future of Palestine to the Palestinians themselves, his office said.

The phone call came amid heightened tensions in the region, especially between the Iran-allied Hezbollah group in Lebanon and Israel after the former launched a barrage of rockets on an Israeli airbase on Saturday.

The Lebanese group said the attack was a response to Israel's killing senior Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.

Amir-Abdollahian said the only way to prevent the expansion of conflict in the region and to establish sustainable peace is to focus on the root of the problem and solve it.

Referring to the heavy death toll in the besieged Gaza Strip, which now tops 22,000, including women and children, Iran's top diplomat held Israel and the US responsible for it.

"It is impossible to ignore the roots of destabilization in the region without looking at the occupation and letting the Israeli regime run amok while worrying about the security of the Red Sea and the region," he said.

The security of Gaza and the occupied West Bank and the security of the region are interconnected and war is not the solution, he hastened to add.

On the recent twin bombings in southeastern Iran’s Kerman city, which claimed the lives of 91 people, Amir-Abdollahian urged the need for the international community to "practically deal with various forms of terrorism."

Colonna, for her part, condemned the bombings that came on the fourth anniversary of the death of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, Iran's slain top commander.

Earlier, the French foreign minister in a post on X said she told her Iranian counterpart that Iran and its affiliates must stop their "destabilizing actions."

She said that the risk of "regional conflagration has never been so great," the statement added, obliquely referring to Iran's support for Hamas and Hezbollah.

"No one would gain from escalation," she wrote.