Iran Won’t Forgo Right to Respond to Israel, Top Diplomat Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian caretaker foreign minister notified the UN secretary-general that Iran will by no means renounce its right to take retaliatory action against the Israeli regime for its recent move to assassinate Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
In a telephone conversation on Thursday, Caretaker Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Baqeri and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed the terrorist act of the Zionist regime in assassinating the head of the political bureau of Hamas movement.
"The terrorist act of the Zionist regime in martyring Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, in addition to violating the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has endangered regional and international peace and stability. Iran will not forgo its inherent right to self-defense and to take reciprocal action to punish the criminal Zionists," Baqeri warned, the Foreign Ministry’s website reported.
He also condemned the actions of the US and the European countries in preventing the condemnation of the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran, adding, "This aggressive act of the Zionist regime will endanger regional peace and stability, and the international community must stand against this criminal regime to preserve international peace and stability."
Baqeri also stressed the importance of holding an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, proposed by Iran, to condemn and counter the criminal actions of the Zionist regime.
Guterres, for his part, said he had condemned the two attacks by the Zionist regime in southern Beirut and Tehran in a statement.
He acknowledged that under the international law, Iran has the right to legitimate self-defense in response to violations of its national security and territorial integrity.
The UN chief expressed concern about the potential for an all-out war in Lebanon and its consequences.
In conclusion, Baqeri emphasized that the international community must pressure the Zionist regime to stop its ongoing crimes in Gaza and save the oppressed people of the besieged enclave from the criminal gang ruling Tel Aviv.