Japan urges Iran’s restraint over Haniyeh assassination
Japan called on Iran to exercise restraint after the Islamic Republic vowed to punish Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader in Tehran last month.
Japan’s Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday expressed serious concern over the current deteriorating situation in West Asia, saying that escalation of the situation would not be in the interest of the region or the international community as a whole.
She called on Iran to show restraint, saying that every effort should be made to avoid further tensions.
Kamikawa also called on Iran to urge resistance groups in the region to exercise restraint.
Both sides affirmed the importance of peace and stability in West Asia region and confirmed to continue to maintain communication between Japan and Iran based on their traditional, friendly relationship.
Tensions remain high in the region following Israel’s assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31. Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination and has vowed to punish the regime for the killing of Haniyeh who had traveled to Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president.
On Monday, Araghchi said that Iran’s response to Israel would be “definite, calculated and accurate.”
Unlike the Israeli regime, Iran does not seek to increase tensions in the region although it is not afraid of it, Araghchi added.
Revenge for Haniyeh’s
blood ‘certain’
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri said on Monday that the assassination of the Hamas leader cannot be forgotten and revenge for Haniyeh’s blood by the Axis of Resistance and Iran is “certain.”
General Baqeri underlined that the Islamic Republic and the Axis of Resistance will separately act in this regard.
Also on Wednesday, the Iranian foreign minister held talks with Khalil al-Hayya, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas’s deputy Political Bureau chief.
During the phone call, Araghchi hailed Palestinians’ eleven-month-long steadfastness in the face of the Israeli regime’s genocidal war and atrocities, expressing confidence that “final victory” belongs to the Palestinian people.
“The current Iranian administration will continue to robustly pursue its predecessors’ policy of support for the oppressed Palestinian nation,” Araghchi added, stressing that the Islamic Republic would stand with the Palestinians “until the end.”
He also underlined that Tehran would lend its support to whatever agreement leading to a ceasefire and cessation of the underway war on the Gaza Strip that meets the approval of the Palestinian people and resistance.