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Iran says will use its legitimate right to punish Israel
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres reiterated Iran’s “inherent right” to self-defense and reciprocal action after Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.
“The Zionist regime’s terrorist act of assassinating Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran did not only violate the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic, but also endangered regional and international peace and stability,” Bagheri Kani said on Thursday, a day after Haniyeh was assassinated in the Israeli act of terror. He further referred to Wednesday’s meeting of the UN Security Council, during which the United States and European countries prevented the body from denouncing Haniyeh’s assassination. The aggressive Israeli action will put regional peace and stability at risk, he warned, calling on the international community to stand up against the regime. Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, was assassinated along with his bodyguard, in an Israeli attack on his residence in northern Tehran early on Wednesday.
The terrorist act came hours after Israel assassinated Fuad Shukr, a senior commander of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah, in Beirut.
The UN chief, for his part, said that he had condemned the two attacks by the Israeli regime in Beirut and Tehran in a statement.
Meanwhile, he acknowledged that under international law, Iran has the right to legitimate self-defense in response to violations of its national security and territorial integrity.
Additionally, Bagheri Kani talked over the phone with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday. Bagheri Kani emphasized that Iran will definitely use its legitimate right to punish the Israeli regime.
Bagheri Kani also held separate talks with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf. During the conversation, he said Iran will “decisively and effectively” punish Israel for crossing the Islamic Republic’s red line.
In a separate phone call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Bagheri Kani vowed that Iran would undoubtedly bring the “notorious and criminal” Israeli regime to justice.
“The Zionists have caused bloodshed in Gaza in the past 10 months and now they have expanded the scope of their crimes to Beirut, Tehran, and Yemen,” he said, warning that, “if the terrorist criminals are not stopped, they will seriously endanger regional and international peace and security.” Safadi, for his part, condemned the Israeli crime as a violation of Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.