FM Bagheri Kani tells UN chief Iran will punish 'criminal Zionists'

Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has reiterated Iran’s “inherent right” to self-defense and reciprocal action after Israel’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group, in Tehran.

“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 during a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, a day after Haniyeh was assassinated in the Israeli act of terror.

“Iran will not forgo its inherent right to defend itself and take reciprocal action to punish the criminal Zionists,” he stressed.

The top Iranian diplomat also emphasized the need for holding an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to condemn and confront the criminal actions of the occupying regime. 

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.

Iran envoy warns UN of Israel’s efforts to expand Gaza war to entire region

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The aggressive Israeli action will put regional peace and stability at risk, he warned, calling on the international community to stand up against the criminal 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.

Guterres also expressed concerns about the repercussions of an all-out Israeli war on Lebanon.

At the end of the conversation, Bagheri Kani said the international community should put pressure on Israel to stop its crimes in Gaza, where the Israeli genocidal war has killed at least 39,480 Palestinians over the past 10 months.

‘Israel crossed Iran’s red line’

Additionally, Bagheri Kani talked over the phone 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.

He also thanked Algeria for supporting the holding of the Security Council meeting to counter Israel’s terrorist acts.

Attaf, for his part, stressed the Algerian government and people’s strong condemnation of the Zionist regime's crime on Iranian soil that violated the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

‘Zionists expanded Gaza crimes to Beirut, Tehran’

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.

Israel wants an increase in tensions in the region, he said, calling for efforts to prevent the expansion of the Gaza war.

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