Last updated on August 29th, 2024 at 04:06 pm
Tehran, Iran-Iran declared its “right and legal authority” to retaliate for the killing of the Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh who was killed in Tehran last week in the attack attributed to Israel in this continuing Gaza war.
Iran’s Position about Retaliation
He added that Iran does not intend to escalate tensions in the region, already high since fighting between Israel and Hamas began early last month.
Details of the Assassination
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said the “short-range projectile” was fired from outside his residence in Tehran, which Israel used to attack Haniyeh. He had arrived in the Iranian capital to attend the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Reactions and Threats of Retaliation
The assassination has drawn pledges of revenge from Iran, Hamas, and other Tehran-allied armed groups across the Middle East. While Israel had not commented directly on Haniyeh’s killing, it came within days of the assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on Beirut.
Calls for De-escalation
Fighting between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israeli forces has taken place nearly daily since early October, with recent high-profile killings ratcheting up calls for de-escalation amid world powers’ concerns over an all-out regional war.
Iran’s Stance on Regional Security
Kanani said once again on Monday that stability and security in this region could only be provided by “punishing the aggressor and creating a deterrent against the adventurous behaviour and extraterritorial terrors of the Zionist regime.”
Iran, which does not recognize Israel, has held talks with several Arab countries such as Jordan, Egypt, Oman and Qatar since Haniyeh’s killing.
Israel’s Preparation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country was keeping “a very high level” of preparedness for “every eventuality, any development,” adding defensively as well as offensively.
By its stance and diplomatic moves, Iran has notified everybody that it will continue to exercise its right for all measures against what it would define as Israeli aggression, further complicating the explosive Middle East situation.
