Israel wants
to drag the Middle East into a full-blown war by provoking Iran to join the
nearly year-old conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon,
Iran's president said on Monday, warning of its "irreversible"
consequences.
Masoud
Pezeshkian, speaking to a group of journalists after his arrival in New York to
attend the United Nations General Assembly, said: "We do not wish to be
the cause of instability in the Middle East as its consequences would be
irreversible"
"We
want to live in peace, we don't want war," he added. "It is Israel
that seeks to create this all-out conflict."
Pezeshkian,
a relatively moderate politician who was elected in July promising a pragmatic
foreign policy, accused the international community of silence in the face of
what he called "Israel's genocide" in Gaza.
Pezeshkian's
call to resolve the Middle East conflict through dialogue came after Israel
unleashed an intense wave of air strikes against Hezbollah on
Monday, making it the deadliest day
in Lebanon in nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Tehran-backed group.
"We
will defend any group that is defending its rights and itself," Pezeshkian
said, when asked whether Iran will enter the conflict between Israel and
Hezbollah. He did not elaborate.
The European
Union's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, also in New York, described the
situation as nearly a full-fledged war. He urged world leaders to do all they
could to stop it, adding: "Here in New York is the moment to do
that."
Tens of thousands
of people have been displaced from towns and villages on both sides of the
border by near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.
Israel has said it prefers a diplomatic solution that would have Hezbollah
moved farther back from the border.
However,
Hezbollah, which also says it wants to avoid all-out conflict, says that only
an end to the war in Gaza will stop the fighting. Gaza ceasefire efforts are
deadlocked after months of faltering talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United
States.
Iran's
regional policy is set by the elite Revolutionary Guards, who answer only to
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's top authority.
Pezeshkian
has repeatedly affirmed Iran's anti-Israel stance and its support for resistance
movements across the region since taking office last month.
Asked if
Iran would retaliate for the assassination of Palestinian militant group Hamas'
leader Ismail
Haniyeh on its soil in late July, Pezeshkian said "We will
respond at the appropriate time and place, in an appropriate manner".
Haniyeh's
killing, which both Tehran and Hamas have blamed on Israel, has aroused fears
of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-foe Israel in a region shaken by
Israel's war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.
Iran's
powerful Guards and Khamenei have vowed "severe" revenge for
Haniyeh's killing, which happened while he visited Tehran. So far, Tehran has
held back from direct retaliation against Israel, which has neither confirmed
or denied its involvement.
Three senior
Iranian officials told Reuters in August Tehran has been involved in intense
dialogue with Western countries and the United States to
calibrate retaliation against Israel for Haniyeh's assassination.
Pezeshkian
said "we were told that within a week there will be a ceasefire
agreement" between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas, "but that week has
never come and instead Israel has kept expanding its attacks."