Iran warns US will not be spared if Israel-Gaza war spreads, fires back at President Biden

Iran’s foreign minister warned that the US will not escape unaffected if the Hamas-Israel war turns into a broader conflict, firing back after the Biden administration said Iran was ultimately to blame for a recent spate of drone attacks on American forces.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian delivered the threat in a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, speaking in English as he accused the US of overseeing “genocide” against the Palestinian people.

“Today in New York and the United Nations I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine that we do not welcome” an “expansion of the war in the region”, Amirabdollahian said. “But I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues they will not be spared from these fires”.

The foreign minister spoke at an emergency General Assembly meeting to discuss the Israel-Gaza war. A group of Arab nations circulated a draft resolution that would call for an immediate ceasefire.

His comments marked the latest escalation in an increasingly fiery war of words between the US and Iran in the days since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,400 people, and Israel responded with air strikes that have killed thousands more in the Gaza Strip. Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have fired rockets into Israel from the North, and warn of a bigger barrage if Israel launches a ground assault into Gaza.