Iranian President: Israel 'has not achieved any of its goals'

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi stated on Thursday that Israel "has not achieved any of its goals" during the ongoing war of more than 40 days with the Hamas movement. 

The official IRNA news agency quoted Raisi as saying, "If we want to analyze after 40 days of war, the enemy has been defeated." 

"With the temporary ceasefire, we must say that the Palestinian people and the resistance have achieved a great victory." 

Israel and Hamas announced a truce agreement involving the release of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a cessation of hostilities for four days. However, it will not take effect until Friday, as announced by Israeli officials on Thursday. 

The Iranian president added that after Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which led to the outbreak of war, "the Zionists declared that they would occupy Gaza and wanted to destroy the resistance, but they have not achieved either of these goals." 

He reiterated the accusation against "the United States and the West for supporting (the Israelis) with all their might." 

Raisi, whose country does not recognize the existence of Israel and supports the Palestinian movement Hamas and Hezbollah, pointed out that "today is a day of victory for dignity over the devil, and everyone can celebrate it." 

During his second visit to Beirut since the start of the war in Gaza, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned that the war zone in Gaza would expand if the truce between Israel and Hamas did not continue. 

AFP