Iran's foreign minister continued to deny Tehran's goal to expand war in the region on the back of the Gaza war while simultaneously meeting heads of Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

In a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said “if Iran were pursuing such a goal, it would lead to a significant change in the overall conditions in the region.”

However, the foreign minister traveled to Beirut for discussions on the situation in Gaza with Iran's largest proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad Secretary General Ziad al-Nakhalah and Hamas' Khalil al-Hayya on Thursday.

The leadership in Tehran has had multiple meetings during the course of this year with heads of its proxies in the lead up to the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, in which 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered and 240 taken hostage to Gaza.

Israel's relentless retaliation has seen the worst bloodshed since Hamas took over the strip in 2007, vowing to take out the proscribed terror group once the hostages have been returned.

Iran has consistently made similar statements in the past four weeks while expressing support for Hamas and celebrating the attacks across Iran. Since October 7, Iran's proxies across the region have targeted Israel, from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon, making it ever more difficult for Tehran to deny its involvement in a conflict which has claimed thousands of lives.