European countries and the United States do not want to see peace and tranquility in the Middle East, Iranian President Massoud Pezheskian said on Friday.

“European countries and the United States do not want relations between countries [στη Μέση Ανατολή] to develop peacefully,” he said in a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

According to the Iranian president, the situation in the region has escalated dramatically because Israel does not recognize “any international legal and humanitarian standards.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on October 4 that the United States and its allies are supporting Israel in the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon with the sole aim of getting their hands on the Middle East’s resources.

Tensions flared in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion into Israeli territory, killing scores of Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and kidnapping more than 250 Israelis, including whose women, children and elderly. Israel declared a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched a bombardment of the enclave and some areas in Lebanon and Syria, as well as a ground operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Clashes also occur in the West Bank.

Israel has been carrying out massive airstrikes against Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon since September 23. Israel’s stated goal is to create safe conditions in the northern regions of the country so that tens of thousands of Israeli residents can return to their homes. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut on September 27. In the early hours of October 1, Israel announced the launch of a ground operation in Lebanon on the border with Israel.