World awaiting Trump administration to end Gaza war: Iran VP

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The world is waiting on the upcoming administration of Donald Trump to implement its promises and end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, an Iranian vice president said on Monday.

“The world is waiting for the promise of the new government of this country to immediately stop the war against the innocent people of Gaza and Lebanon,”  Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref, said at the Arab-Islamic summit in Riyadh on the ongoing conflict in Gaza and Lebanon, referring to the next US government.

Trump has been more direct about his approach to ending ongoing wars in recent years but has reaffirmed his "unwavering support" for Israel. 

Aref said that the United Nations has failed due to the strong support Western countries have provided to Israel and added that UN “is unable to end the genocide of the Palestinians and the mass killing of the Lebanese people.” 

“Our responsibility as leaders of Islamic and Arab countries is multiplying” he stressed.

Despite calling for the war to end, Trump has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "get his victory" over Hamas.

Trump's actions during his first term of presidency further deepened tensions by recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, causing outrage among Muslims. Trump’s “Deal of the Century” failed to provide a two-state solution.

His US administration also withdrew from the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers and introduced biting sanctions on the Islamic republic, which in turn began stepping up its nuclear enrichment efforts. 

“He must have realized that the maximum pressure policy that he initiated caused Iran's enrichment to reach 60 percent from 3.5 percent,” Javad Zarif, Iran’s vice president for strategic affairs, told reporters in Tehran on Saturday.

Zarif’s comments were about Trump's “maximum pressure” policy that included harsh sanctions on Iran during his first term in office.

In a Monday presser, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that the US should stop supporting Israel and the ongoing war in Gaza. 

On October 7 of last year, Palestinian Hamas militants launched a large-scale incursion into southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel responded with a massive ongoing offensive in Gaza, killing at least 43,500 people, mostly civilians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The deadly war has spilled over to neighboring Lebanon, where its Hezbollah movement has fired missiles and used explosive-laden drones to attack Israeli targets.