As regime officials continue to call for an escalation of Israel’s war against Iran-backed militant group Hamas, the country’s foreign minister rallied his counterpart in South Africa.

While he said the meeting was a follow up to the recent visit of President Ebrahim Raisi to South Africa in addition to discussions on bilateral relations, he used it as a chance to rally support under the banner of apartheid amid a battle against terror which threatens to become an Iran-driven proxy war.

Touching on the old wound of apartheid, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told a press conference after meeting his counterpart Naledi Pandor: “Mr [Nelson] Mandela is widely recognized as a symbol of the struggle against apartheid, especially today, when the world witnesses the massacre by the illegitimate Israeli regime against the resilient and oppressed people of Gaza.”

Apartheid by its definition is a policy of segregation on the grounds of race or religion, as was seen in the black versus white policies of South Africa. In Israel, a multitude of faiths live together including Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and Baha’i.

Continuing the war cry, which has been loud and clear from the foreign minister and a wealth of other regime officials from the Supreme Leader and President to lawmakers, he once again warned of the explosive nature of the war declared by Hamas on October 7, which has incurred brutally devastating airstrikes in retaliation from Israel.

”From this tribune, I declare that today the region is like a powder keg,” said Amir-Abdollahian. “Any miscalculation in continuing the genocide and compulsory displacement can have serious and bitter consequences, both in the region and against the interests of warmongers,” referring to Iran’s multitude of proxies around the region baying for blood.

It comes just days after Pandor spoke with Hamas’ political head, Ismail Haniyeh, who rules from Turkey and Qatar. She told him of “South Africa’s solidarity and support” for the Palestinian people and “expressed sadness and regret for the loss of innocent lives on both sides”, causing domestic backlash from the South African Jewish community which accused her of siding with the terror proxy.

Fearing Iranian interference, the US and UK have mobilized warships and support for Israel after the attacks of October 7 which left at least 1,400 civilians dead and has seen over 300 more soldiers killed.

Israel’s harsh response as it vows to wipe out Hamas, has led to thousands more Palestinians dead and around 750,000 displaced as the proxy’s war continues to strangle the people of Gaza.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Sunday that after detailed discussions with President Joe Biden on recent escalations by Iran and its proxy forces across the Middle East, he had directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense posture in the region.

In the announcement on X, he said: “These steps will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase force protection for U.S. forces in the region, and assist in the defense of Israel. I will continue to assess our force posture requirements in the region and consider deploying additional capabilities as necessary.”

While airstrikes in Gaza continued to target Hamas infrastructure and leadership, buried deep in civilian heartland from mosques to hospitals, in neighbouring Syria, where Iran has a military presence, Damascus and Aleppo international airports were hit once again in the early hours of Sunday, putting both out of service and killing two workers.

A key route for Iranian weaponry and other military shipments into the region, disabling Syrian infrastructure has been an ongoing shadow war for Israel in its battle to keep its borders safe from Iran. During Sunday morning’s Israel Defence Forces press briefing, its spokesman typically claimed he could not comment.

On Israel’s northern border, further clashes came from Iran’s biggest regional proxy, Hezbollah, which had terrorists killed during attempted infiltrations and attempted UAV and anti-tank missiles fired during Sunday.

It has become the most deadly escalation between Israel and Lebanon since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah said four fighters were killed in heavy exchanges of fire on Sunday and another died of wounds sustained earlier, raising to 24 the number of its members killed since October 7.

Lebanese security sources said 11 fighters with Palestinian militant groups in Lebanon had also been killed in the volatile border region, alongside four civilians. At least five Israeli soldiers and one civilian have been killed on Israel's side of the frontier, according to Israeli military reports.

A further 14 villages have also been evacuated and 120,000 Israelis from both north and south are now in evacuation facilities.