Tehran: We Informed Washington of Our Reluctance to Escalate the Conflict in Gaza

Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abdullahian said on Friday that his country informed the United States through diplomatic channels of its desire not to escalate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abdullahian stated in an interview with the British newspaper "Financial Times," published on Friday: "We informed the United States that Iran does not want the spread of war, but any option (for the developments) becomes possible, and the widening of the conflict becomes inevitable due to the approach taken by the United States and Israel in the region, and if the crimes against the people of Gaza and the West Bank do not stop." According to the Iranian minister, Iran and the United States have communicated through the American section of the Swiss embassy in Tehran over the past forty days, during which the possibility of direct talks between Tehran and Washington has been ruled out, as reported by the newspaper. Earlier, Iran's permanent mission to the United Nations told Reuters that Tehran would not engage in direct conflict with Tel Aviv unless Israel launched an attack on Iran. The Iranian foreign minister denied on Thursday his country's responsibility for attacks on American interests in Iraq and Syria, emphasizing that the armed factions carrying out those attacks made their own decisions.