Iran's FM Holds Talks With Palestinian Militant Groups, Assad, In Damascus

Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad attends a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Damascus, Syria February 11, 2024.
Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad attends a joint press conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Damascus, Syria February 11, 2024.

Iran's Foreign Minister has met with leaders of multiple Iran-backed Palestinian militant factions based in Damascus as the war in Gaza continues to fuel a proxy war around the region.

Iran's proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen have joined Hamas's war on Israel and US targets in the region since October 7 when Gaza-based Hamas invaded Israel.

"Today, the issue of Palestine has become the world's top issue, and October 7 and the Al-Aqsa Intifada showed that Palestine is alive and will not surrender to the demands of the Zionist regime and the coercive powers, including the United States government," Hossein Amir-Abdollahian stated during the meeting. It is believed that at least 15 members of factions such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were in attendance. 

During the regional tour, the Iranian Foreign Minister also met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Sunday and senior Lebanese government officials and leaders of Palestinian groups in Beirut on Saturday.

Iran continues to deny its hand in the atrocities of October 7 in which 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered by Hamas and another 250 or more taken hostage to Gaza. However, Tehran continues its very public, high level engagement with Palestinian militant groups which it has for years funded, armed and trained.

Israel has since intensified its airstrikes on Iranian-backed military targets in Syria and Iranian military personnel since the war broke out, with high-level killings gaining pace.