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Iran-backed militias in the Middle East will stop their attacks in the region if a permanent ceasefire in Gaza is reached, Tehran’s ambassador to the UN said on Tuesday.
In an interview with NBC News, Amir Saeid Iravani acknowledged that Iran is sending weapons to militia groups in Palestine but said a lasting ceasefire currently being negotiated is “possible”.
Several Iran-backed groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and those under the umbrella of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have repeatedly claimed that their attacks on Israel, shipping in the Red Sea and US forces in the Middle East would cease if Israel's war on Gaza halts.
The US, a staunch supporter of Israel, has seen its troops in the Middle East attacked by Iranian-supported groups at least 180 times since the war in Gaza began in October.
US forces began retaliatory strikes after groups belonging to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq killed three American service members in a drone strike on a Jordan base.
NBC journalist Lester Holt asked Mr Iravani if the attacks would “end if there was a ceasefire in Gaza”.
“Yeah, it should,” Mr Iravani replied.
US launches retaliatory strikes on Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria – video
“At least it should be [a] ceasefire, permanent ceasefire, and durable ceasefire, and full ceasefire in Gaza.”
Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli soil in October last year, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths. Militant groups took 240 people hostage and 132 remain in Gaza after some releases.
Following the Hamas attack, Israel launched military operations in Gaza, killing more than 27,400 people, according to the local Health Ministry.
Mr Iravani told Holt that “we said very explicitly that, in the case of the Palestine, we're sending arms, we're training them and empowering them”.
He also said that Iran works with other groups in the region like the Houthis on “some co-ordination, co-operation, consultation and maybe some financing also”.
Ceasefire negotiations are currently taking place via mediators from Qatar, the US and Egypt. The withdrawal of the Israeli military and a possible hostage and detainee swap are also being discussed.
“The ceasefire is possible,” Mr Iravani told Holt.
“I think that in the midterm, we can have a sustainable ceasefire between Hamas and the other party.”
Mr Iravani said the immediate needs of Gazans should be met right away.
“After that, we should send the humanitarian assistance to the Gaza people,” he said. “Rehabilitation of Gaza will be the next steps we should take.”
100 days of Israel-Gaza war – in pictures
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Palestinian Muhammad Al Durra with his children in the ruins of a house in Rafah where they sheltered on January 11, 2024. EPA -
Family and friends at the funerals of journalists Hamza Al Dahdouh and Mustafa Thuraya on January 7, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza. Getty Images -
Palestinians mourn relatives killed by Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip outside a mortuary in Khan Younis January 4, 2024. AP Photo -
Displaced Palestinians queue to bake bread at a camp in the Muwasi area of Rafah, Gaza Strip, on December 23, 2023. AP Photo -
Palestinians queue for food in Rafah, the Gaza Strip, on December 20, 2023. AP Photo -
The ruins of Rafah on December 14, 2023. AFP -
Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Khan Younis on December 8, 2023. AP Photo -
Palestinians flee Israeli bombing along the Salaheddine Road in the Zeitoun district of Gaza city on November 28, 2023. AFP -
A Red Cross vehicle takes Israeli hostages from the Gaza Strip into Egypt in Rafah on November 25, 2023. AP -
The ruins of buildings in Gaza city on November 24, 2023, as a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas took effect. AP Photo -
A woman and her cat return home to eastern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip during the first hours of a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas forces on November 24, 2023. AFP -
Mourning the dead of Israeli bombardment outside the mortuary at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on November 14, 2023. AFP -
Civilians and rescuers look for survivors in the rubble of a building after Israeli bombing of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on November 12, 2023. AFP -
November 7, 2023, a month to the day after Hamas attacked Israel, a victim of an Israeli bombardment in Rafah is moved from the rubble. AFP -
Searching the rubble after Israeli air strikes on the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on October 26, 2023. AP Photo -
Mourning the Kotz family at their funeral in Gan Yavne, Israel, on October 17, 2023. AP Photo -
An Israeli firefighter composes himself after he and his colleagues extinguished cars set on fire by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip in Ashkelon, Israel, on October 9, 2023. AP Photo -
Palestinians with the wreckage of an Israeli tank at the Gaza Strip fence east of the city of Khan Younis on October 7, 2023, the day Hamas forces swept unopposed into Israel. AP Photo -
Israeli police officers evacuate a woman and a child from a site hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. AP Photo
