Biden Vows to Hold Iran “Accountable” for Its Support to Russia, Hamas

Iranwire – President Joe Biden has warned the Islamic Republic of Iran that the United States will hold it “accountable” for providing military support to Russia and Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

In an address to the American people on October 19, Biden tied the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel together and argued “We can’t let terrorists like Hamas and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin win.”

“Iran is supporting Russia in [its war in] Ukraine and it’s supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups in the region,” he said. ‘We’ll continue to hold them accountable, I might add.”

The US president argued that Putin and Hamas, responsible for the bloody October 7 assault on Israel, “represent different threats” but share a common goal.

“They both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” Biden said, adding that Ukraine and Israel also share a common enemy in the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Earlier, the US Senate unanimously passed a resolution that backed Israel’s right to self-defense and condemned “Iran’s support for global terrorism, including its support for terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.” 

While openly admitting its backing for Hamas, funding and arming the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, the Islamic Republic insists it was not involved in the attack on Israel.

Iranian officials have celebrated the Hamas assault and warned that an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza would be met with a response from other fronts, prompting fears of a wider conflict that could draw in other countries.

The European Union, the United States and other countries have issued multiple rounds of sanctions against the Islamic Republic in recent months over its supply of lethal drones to Russia. 

The West has also imposed sanctions on Russia over its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.