Iran to use its legitimate right to punish Israel –Foreign Minister
Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, said that the country will use all its legitimate rights to respond to the Israel’s assassination of Chief of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.
The assassination of Martyr Haniyeh in Tehran was the gross violation of the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and Iran will certainly use its inherent and legitimate rights to punish the criminal Zionist regime, Ali Bagheri Kani emphasised.
Speaking in a telephone conversation with EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Friday, Iran’s top diplomat emphasised that Iran has reserved the rights to defend itself from any aggression.
During the phone talks, the two sides discussed the terrorist act of the Zionist regime in assassinating Hamas chief and the political-security consequences of this heinous crime in the violation of the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also violation of the regional peace and stability.
Bagheri pointed to the participation of Enrique Mora on behalf of the European Union in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and added that the terrorist act of the Zionist regime in assassinating Hamas Chief Martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, in addition to the violation of the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has jeopardised the regional peace and security and Iran will certainly use its inherent and legitimate rights to punish the criminal Zionist regime.
Bagheri emphasized that the inaction of some European countries, and their silence regarding the Zionist war-mongering in Yemen and Lebanon, has emboldened this regime to continue its aggressive actions, which will lead to jeopardise the peace and stability in the region.
The EU foreign policy chief, for his part, emphasised that Iran has reserved the right to defend its territorial integrity and expressed his deep concern over the escalation of an all-out war at the region and the dire consequences of this issue on the people of the region.
The European Union should prevent the continuation of the crimes of the Zionist regime in line with fulfilling its responsibility to safeguard the peace and security through the exertion of pressure on the Zionist regime.
The inaction of the European Union (EU) will encourage the criminal Zionist regime to resort to warmongering and jeopardising the regional peace and security, Borrell added.
Meanwhile, South Africa has strongly condemned Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh, and called for the opening of an investigation file into Haniyeh assassination.
In a statement released on Thursday, the South African Foreign Ministry said it is concerned that the assassination of Haniyeh and the continuous targeting of civilians in Gaza will further spiral the already tense situation in the entire region.
“South Africa urges that a thorough investigation be conducted and calls on all parties to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid any acts that would escalate tensions in the particularly fragile region,” the statement read.
South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola also said Haniyeh’s assassination was extrajudicial killing and violated the international law.
“Such acts of extrajudicial killings violate international law and the principles of human rights, undermining global efforts to promote peace and stability in the Middle East,” the top diplomat said.
Lamola said Haniyeh’s assassination occurred in the context of the months-long slack in Gaza, where the ongoing Israeli onslaught has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
He said Haniyeh was an integral member of the negotiating team, working with mediators to secure a permanent ceasefire and bring the war in Gaza to an end.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Lamola said Israeli’s continued occupation, destruction of infrastructure, collective punishment and extrajudicial assassinations would make the realization of a peaceful solution in West Asia much more difficult to achieve.
“An extra-territorial killing was conducted in which Ismail Haniyeh was martyred through a rocket,” he said, regretting that international laws were violated in the act.
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Funeral ceremonies for Hamas leader Haniyeh was held in Qatar as commemorations are also taking place in several countries including Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
On Friday, thousands of mourners gathered at the Imam Muhammad bin Abdul al-Wahhab Mosque in Doha and performed the ritual prayers for the Palestinian group’s political chief, ahead of his burial at a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital.
Amid tight security, mourners gathered in the national mosque’s compound hours before Friday noon prayers to pay their respects to Haniyeh, who lived in Doha for the past several years.
Haniyeh was a prominent member of the movement for more than 20 years. His legacy in the Palestinian struggle for statehood and freedom from Israeli occupation was undeniable, according to many who were at the mosque.
Representatives of other Palestinian factions and members of the public were attending the events in the city, where Haniyeh had lived along with representatives from the group’s political office. His family was also at the funeral amid particularly tight security measures.
Proofreading editing by Uji A Iliyasu,Editor at Neptune Prime
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