Iran has responded to the remarks made by the Israeli Ambassador to New Delhi against the Islamic Republic on the occasion of the third anniversary of the October 7 Hamas attacks and said the main source of insecurity in the Middle East is not the people of the region but Israel’s “aggressive, occupying and war-mongering policies”, backed by the United States.
The Iranian mission also questioned Israel’s claim to be a defender of regional security, citing strikes on Qatar and Beirut, the destruction in Gaza and the continued occupation of the Golan Heights. He discussed Hamas’s military capabilities and the ongoing regional security threat in the region. It said that over 70,000 people had been killed in Gaza. The statement came after Azar, while talking to NDTV, reflected on three years since the October 7 Hamas attacks, saying the wounds in Israel are still fresh even as communities rebuild.
In a statement posted on X, the Embassy of Iran in India called the envoy Reuven Azar’s allegations about Gaza and Lebanon being ‘proxies’ of the regime in Tehran as “baseless and misleading”, asserting they are “proxies of no country” but people fighting for their land, security and dignity. In a rebuttal of the Israeli envoy’s allegations, Tehran’s mission said that for years, Gulf nations have believed that the United States and Israel could guarantee their security. Security is not created through bombing, occupation, assassination and the killing of civilians, it said. The Embassy also referred to the multi-nation walkout during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s UN General Assembly address and said Tel Aviv had been politically and morally isolated at the event.
