Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says diplomatic efforts have intensified in the Western Asia region for a renewed ceasefire in Gaza where the Israeli regime has been pounding the Palestinians for 75 days.
“The diplomatic negotiations show that the region is gradually moving toward a ceasefire,” Amir-Abdollahian told reporters during a Wednesday trip to Qatar, where he held talks with Qatari authorities and Palestinian resistance officials.
The minister said the aim of regional efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza is to put an end to the “catastrophic situation” in the territory or at least to reduce “the grievances of the Palestinian people.”
He said that the United States, as the main supporter of the Israeli regime in its war on Gaza, claims to be working out a truce in Palestine before the start of the New Year.
Amir-Abdollahian said, however, that the US does not seek a permanent end to hostilities in Gaza.
“If the US and (Palestine’s) opposite sides are serious on this issue, they should enter into talks after a type of ceasefire is reached to discuss how a permanent ceasefire and a complete lifting of humanitarian siege can function,” he said.
The top Iranian diplomat made the remarks hours after he met head of Hamas politburo Ismail Haniyeh in Doha, a fourth such meeting between the two since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in early October.
Later on Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian met Qatar’s Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss the latest situation in Gaza and regional efforts to a reach ceasefire in the territory.
Qatar played a key role in mediation efforts and helped secure a week-long ceasefire in Gaza that ended on December 1 and allowed Palestinian resistance groups and the Israeli regime to exchange captives and prisoners while enabling international organizations to deliver badly-needed humanitarian aid to the coastal sliver.
More than 19,500 people have been killed since Israel started its full-scale military campaign in Gaza on October 7, the day on which Hamas launched a major operation into Israeli-occupied territories near Gaza, killing 1,200 settlers and military forces.
