Tehran, Iran: Iran declared on Monday that it has the “legal right” to respond to the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, an act attributed to Israel amidst the ongoing Gaza conflict.
“No one has the right to doubt Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani during a regular news conference, referring to Israel. He added that Iran “does not seek to aggravate tensions in the region,” which have escalated since the Israel-Hamas war began in early October and intensified following the attack in Tehran on Wednesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported that Israel killed Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside his residence in Tehran, where he was visiting for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
In response, Iran, Hamas, and other Tehran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East have vowed to retaliate. Israel has not directly commented on Haniyeh’s killing, which occurred just hours after the assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on Beirut.
Since early October, Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces have exchanged near-daily fire. Calls for de-escalation have increased following the high-profile assassinations, with global powers fearing a full-scale regional war.
Kanani stated on Monday, “We believe the consolidation of stability and security in the region will be achieved by punishing the aggressor and creating a deterrent against the adventurous behavior and extraterritorial terrors of the Zionist regime.”
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has engaged in discussions with several Arab countries, including Jordan, Egypt, Oman, and Qatar, following Haniyeh’s assassination. Tehran has consistently reaffirmed its “inherent right” to act against Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that Israel is at “a very high level” of preparedness for any scenario, both “defensive and offensive.”
