Full interview: Iran's foreign minister on Israel, Houthis, as tensions escalate in the Red Sea

foreign minister thanks for your time and welcome to CNBC foreign minister there are some people here at the world economic Forum in daros who say that you have no business being here particularly after the attacks from the houthis on commercial ships in the Red Sea and most recently the Iranian strikes in Iraqi Kurdistan and in Syria can you address that please first of all I have to tell you that the national salvation government of Yemen has been established in major parts of Yemen and sonar for many years they are the party of the negotiations with the Saudis in recent months and based on our information and they are nearing the final stages of having a sustained agreement therefore we are witnessing yenes acting responsibly and based on their responsible approach they hate the genocide that is going on in Gaza and that is why they have stopped those ships that are going towards Israel and their ports through the Red Sea this is a decision that is taken by them but we have constantly heard from them that they are committed to the freedom of shipping and navigation but if we want to say who should not be in Davos in my view those parties that in the last 100 days have been supporting the genocide in Gaza and caused the killing of 24,000 civilians including more than 18,000 women and children they have no place in dbas however the responsible Act of Iran's Armed Forces was in line with combating terrorism and legitimate self-defense and we Have No Reservations when it comes to securing our national interests with any other country Iraq's prime minister has called these most recent strikes a clear Act of ression you say they were in Iran's best National Security interests is that correct we have a very privileged relationship with Baghdad our relations have expanded and deepened in differing Dimensions but the subject of terrorism and the National Security of the countries is an issue which cannot be subjected to any hesitation the Iraqi officials know very well that Iran considers the security of that country as its own and the terrorists are the common enemy of the people and the governments of Iran and Iraq with regard specifically to the attacks that we've seen in the Red Sea us intelligence says Iran helped houthi Rebels attack commercial ships it says Iran was quote deeply involved in the planning of these attacks how do you respond to that in the developments in the region we have always been on the positive side of the events in the past years practically it was Iran that rushed to the aid of the people and the government of Syria and Iraq and helped them to fight Isis and regarding what is happening now in the Red Sea attention must be paid to the origin and the root of the problem we should not just look at one piece of the puzzle namely the Red Sea first of all we believe the roots to go back to Israel's crimes and genocides in Gaza if these crimes and genocides are stopped naturally the situation created in the region and the spread of War can be logically contained secondly the people of Yemen and other countries in the region who defend the Palestinian people people are acting according to their own experience and through their own interests and they are not receiving any order of instructions from us Maritime and Waterway security is of Paramount important to us because we trade and Export oil of course we appreciate the efforts in the region in defense of the Palestinians but we believe that any action to destabilize the region is rooted in Israel and its genocide in Gaza these crimes should be stopped and the route should be sorted have Hamas and the huis potentially dragged you into a war that you do not want to fight Hamas as a Liberation movement independently decided to act against occupation during the first week after the 7th of October operation I met with the political leader of Hamas in Doha Kata and at that time the most important issue at the center of the attention was how to facilitate the exchange of women and civilian Prisoners the political leader of Hamas told me that he was prepared and absolutely ready and agreed on the issue of the release of the women and civilians but Tel Aviv was not ready we see Hamas as a Liberation movement against the concept of occupation but they have never tried to involve Iran in the war at the same time we believe that Iran's political and moral support for the resistance movement against the occupation has played a positive role in the preservation of stability and peace in the West Asia region what is Iran's red line and will you rule out a direct conflict with Israel we have not recognized Israel and we will never do so secondly probably I should answer your question in this way and say what is the solution with regards to the Palestinian question we believe Israel is an occupying regime it is the same as Algeria as a country which for many decades was under occupation by Western countries but It ultimately came to an end therefore for Palestine too the Israel occupation is not going to last forever 75 years of occupation is not going to create any kind of legitimacy for the existence of Israel but we already have a political solution which is based on political approach we have registered the solution with the United Nations we believe that the people of Palestine should make decisions about their Destiny how by holding a referendum under the supervision of the United Nations who should take part in any kind of referendum all the original Palestinian residents including Christians the Jews and the Muslims and whatever they decide to do for themselves is respected by us finally foreign minister what's your message to the White House and to President Joe Biden and allies in the United Kingdom for example who say that patience is running out with your Hy thugs firstly I would like to say to the White House that they should stay committed to their agreements with Iran and keep the promises that they have made to us the second thing I would like to say is that United States should not Mr Biden should not tie their Destiny to the fate of Netanyahu the full scale cooperation of Biden and the White House with thugs like Netanyahu in Israel is the root of insecurity in the region President Biden should immediately abandoned his full support for this genocide of the Palestinians and the killing of more than 13,500 Palestinian children Netanyahu has reached the end of the tunnel and no medical equipment and no oxygen capsule can revive or save Netanyahu but throughout history resistance against the occupation has always been legitimate we benefit from the peace and security in the region the security of the Red Sea the Persian Gulf and international waters is in our interest stop the war in Gaza and allow peace to be restored in our region as my final word I would like to say that our response to the respect shown by other countries including the United States is showing mutual respect we respect the American people but thousands of years ago when a country called the United States did not exist on the map of the globe one of the greatest human civilization existed today where Yemen is

Channel: CNBC International TV

Views: 6,952

Keywords: CNBC, israel, hamas, fatah, gaza, west bank, houthis, yoav gallant, international court of justice, antony blinken, arab, palestine, al jazeera live, al jazeera, iran, idf, israel war, israel palestine, israel hamas, israel hamas war, hezbollah, lebanon, israel gaza, israel vs palestine, israel vs hamas, jerusalem, hamas israel war, tel aviv, jews, israel palestine war, israel gaza war, hamas israel, middle east, hamas attack, gaza strip, iran israel

Id: ZC08QJ-myu0

Length: 6min 58sec (418 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 19 2024