Iran considers retaliation against Israel over Haniyeh killing a ‘right’, president says
4521 Min Read
Iran’s president has said Tehran considers retaliation against Israel over the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh a “right” and a way to prevent future aggression in a call with Britain’s prime minister.
A Tuesday report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian, in a late Monday phone conversation with prime minister Keir Starmer, said that a punitive response to an aggressor is “a right of nations and a solution for stopping crimes and aggression.”
Pezeshkian said that the West’s silence about “unprecedented inhumane crime” in Gaza and Israeli attacks elsewhere in the Middle East was “irresponsible” and encouraged Israel to put regional and global security at risk.
The report said the two leaders discussed ways for restoring peace and stability in the region and the world as well as improving bilateral relations, without elaborating.
Israel has not confirmed nor denied its role in the July killing of Haniyeh, but Israel earlier pledged to kill him and other Hamas leaders over the group’s 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. The assassination has sparked fears of a wider regional conflict and of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran if Tehran retaliates.
Iran does not recognise Israel and supports anti-Israeli militant groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
