In Syria, the head of Iranian diplomacy insists on a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza
The head of Iranian diplomacy, Abbas Araghchi, visiting the Syrian capital, Damascus, insisted on Saturday on the need for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
“The most important issue today is the ceasefire, particularly in Lebanon and Gaza”Araghchi told reporters upon arriving in Damascus on Saturday after a visit the previous day to Beirut, the Lebanese capital. It is the first by a senior Iranian official in the region since the Sept. 27 death of pro-Iran Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike near Beirut.
“There are initiatives, there are consultations, which we hope will be successful”he said, without further details. “Unfortunately, the hostilities and crimes of the Zionist regime [Israël] continue. “This regime knows no other language than that of force, that of war.”Araghchi added, urging “the international community must put an end to these crimes”.
Paris and Washington, along with Arab, Western and European countries, called in September for an immediate twenty-one-day ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon to “Give diplomacy a chance”. An initiative ignored by Israel which, on the contrary, intensified its attacks and spectacularly killed Hassan Nasrallah.
