Iran’s President accuses Israel of seeking wider Mideast war and laying ‘traps’ to lead Iran into it

By  EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s president accused Israel on Monday of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying “traps” to lead his country into a wider conflict.

Masoud Pezeshkian told about two dozen media representatives that Iran doesn’t want to see the current war in Gaza and airstrikes across the Israeli-Lebanon border expanded.

He said while Israel insists it doesn’t want a wider war, it is taking actions that show otherwise.

Pezeshkian pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on the eve of his inauguration.