Iranian Foreign Minister: Israel and the United States Will Never Eliminate Hamas

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, (Twitter/@IRIMFA_EN)

JAKARTA - Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Tuesday that Israel and the United States would never be able to eliminate Hamas, assessing that Tel Aviv could only guarantee the release of hostages held in Gaza with a political solution to the conflict.

In his speech at UN headquarters in Geneva, where he described the Palestinian militant group as an independence movement, Amirabdollahian said: "Israel and the United States will never be able to eliminate Hamas," reported by Reuters, December 13.

He further said that Israel, which has vowed to eliminate Tehran-backed Hamas, can only return the hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 attack through a political solution.

Foreign Minister Amirabdollahian conveyed the above on the sidelines of a meeting with his colleagues from other Middle Eastern countries.

"All ministers agree that the attacks carried out by the criminal Israeli regime and the genocide it is carrying out must stop immediately," Amirabdollahian said after the meeting.

"The Rafah border crossing must be opened, humanitarian aid must reach every part of Gaza and the forced displacement of Gazans must stop," he added, referring to the crossing to Egypt used to bring humanitarian aid to the region.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last month appealed to Muslim countries that have political ties with Israel to at least suspend their relations for a "limited time". He also previously called for an embargo on oil and food production for the Israeli market.