The Palestinian militant group Hamas, has appealed to Iran to stop attacking Gulf states, suggesting that they should rather “cooperate to halt this aggression and preserve the bonds of fraternity among them”.
Hamas is key ally of Iran and has for decades received financially and militarily support from the Islamic Republic alongside Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis.
Since the start of the Iran war by the US and Israel on February 28, several Gulf states in the region have been attacked by Iran under the guise of targeting US military bases.
However, Hamas in a statement on Saturday called for restraint, while affirming Iran’s right to defend itself against what it described as US aggression.
“While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries.”
Iran has not publicly commented on Hamas’s statement.
The Palestinian group has previously condemned as a “heinous crime” the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes on the first day of the war on 28 February.
