Iran urges sanctions on Israel, says Hamas ready for more 'surprise' attacks
Iran's leader censured the West for supporting Israel, while the country's foreign minister warned that more militant "surprise" attacks were in the offing should Israel refuse to halt Gaza bombardments.
In his second public speech on the Hamas-Israel conflict, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called on Islamic countries to impose economic sanctions on Israel over its deadly strikes and siege on the Gaza Strip.
"The road to exports of oil and food supplies to the Zionist regime must be blocked," Khamenei declared in a televised speech to a group of Iranian students on Wednesday.
The Iranian leader told Islamic countries to put an end to all forms of economic cooperation with Israel, suggesting also his unease with the positions adopted by Muslim politicians. He called on them to "unambiguously" condemn Israel at international bodies "with no hesitation and no stuttering."
Khamenei's comments fell within the pattern of his pre-war dismissive rhetoric against normalization plans between Tehran's archenemy Israel and some regional Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia. He has rejected such deals as "betting on the losing horse." And the prospects of the potential Israel-Saudi rapprochement have turned increasingly bleak in the wake of the ongoing war.
