Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian greeted Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh with an embrace and kisses in their first meeting since the terrorist group's incursion on Israel last week and hours after warning Israel of "a huge earthquake" if it continues its assault on Gaza.
The leaders met Saturday in Doha, Qatar, where Haniyeh has lived since late 2019. A video surfaced showing the leaders sharing customary greetings.
In their subsequent meeting, the pair agreed to "continue cooperation to fully achieve the goals of Hamas and the Palestinian people," according to a Hamas press release.
Amirabdollahian has called Hamas' rampage last weekend in Israel, which has left more than 1,400 dead, most of them civilians, "glorious." What Amirabdollahian has not done is take credit for aiding or helping Hamas plan the attack, something two different Hamas leaders said Iran did exactly.
Their meeting took place hours after Amirabdollahian warned Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, hinting that Hezbollah is prepared to strike Israel from Lebanon, saying that the axis led by Iran has their "fingers on the trigger."
"I know about the scenarios that Hezbollah has put in place," Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut, ostensibly before traveling to Doha to meet with Haniyeh. "Any step the resistance [Hezbollah] will take will cause a huge earthquake in the Zionist entity.
"I want to warn the war criminals and those who support this entity before it's too late to stop the crimes against civilians in Gaza, because it might be too late in few hours," he added.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., warned Iran against escalating attacks on Israel's northern border, saying, "we're coming for you."
"If Hezbollah, which is a proxy of Iran, launches a massive attack on Israel, I would consider that a threat to the state of Israel, existential in nature," Graham told "Meet the Press."
"I will introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business," he said. "Iran, if you escalate this war, we're coming for you."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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