Iran says won’t let ‘Tel Aviv terrorist gang’ undermine security of region

Iran’s interim foreign minister has stressed that the Islamic Republic will not allow Israel to treat stability and security in the West Asia region as “playthings” in order to serve the illegitimate interests and goals of the terrorist ruling gang in Tel Aviv.

Ali Bagheri Kani made the remarks in a telephone conversation with Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Tuesday evening, as the two sides condemned Israel’s recent assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas resistance movement, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, as well as top-ranking Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in an airstrike in the suburbs of southern Beirut.

“The Zionist regime has turned into an instigator of instability and insecurity in West Asia by means of its criminal actions in Yemen, Tehran and Beirut. The United States and certain European countries have also fostered instability in the region by supporting the terrorist acts of the Zionist regime,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Pointing to Iran's decision to take a legitimate, decisive and deterrent action against Israel, Bagheri Kani said, “The Islamic Republic of Iran will not allow the Zionist regime to treat regional stability and security as playthings for the sake of the illegitimate goals and interests of the terrorist ruling gang in Tel Aviv.”

Foreign minister: Iran will give ‘decisive response’ to Israel’s terrorism

Iran’s acting foreign minister says the Israeli regime is the real cause of instability in the West Asia region which is being helped by European countries’ silence over its terrorist actions.

For his part, Mekdad vehemently denounced Israel’s terrorist acts and underscored Syria’s all-out and unflinching support for Iran.

He censured Israel's escalatory measures and its expansion of aggression across West Asia, and condemned the Tel Aviv regime for the ongoing war crimes and genocide against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

The Syrian foreign minister stressed that such actions must not go unpunished.

Mekdad also condemned the West's complicity in Israeli violations, stating that Washington and its European allies have been complicit in acts of aggression against Iran, Lebanon, Yemen and Syria. 

Iran tells UK: Silence against Israeli crimes emboldens criminals

Separately, the interim Iranian foreign minister held a telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, during which he said that silence vis-à-vis Israeli atrocities only encourages the criminal Tel Aviv regime, and emboldens the Zionist entity to forge ahead with its destabilizing moves.

Bagheri Kani clarified that after Israel’s crimes of assassinating Haniyeh and violating Iran's national security and regional stability, European countries missed the first diplomatic opportunity by being passive and failing to condemn the act of aggression that blatantly violated international peace and security.

“Europeans’ obstruction of the diplomatic path will yield no result other than encourage the Zionist regime to keep on its terrorist activities, and create instability and insecurity in the region,” the top Iranian diplomat said.

Haniyeh’s assassination cemented resistance front in region, says Iran's acting FM

Iran’s Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani says the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, has strengthened the resistance front in Palestine and across the region.

He emphasized that no country, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, will compromise on its national sovereignty and security or its territorial integrity.

Bagheri Kani also took a swipe at the US and European members of the UN Security Council for preventing the world body from addressing the root cause of instability and insecurity in West Asia, stressing they are totally responsible for the evil acts of the sole scourge in the region, namely Israel.

Lammy, for his part, called on Iran to exercise utmost self-restraint in the aftermath of Haniyeh’s assassination, describing the killing as a setback in the course of Gaza ceasefire talks.

Israel and Lebanon are on the brink of a war, he said, warning about potential disastrous repercussions that won’t be in the interest of anyone in case self-restraint is not exercised.

Bagheri Kani leaves for OIC extraordinary meeting on Haniyeh assassination

Meanwhile, Baqeri Kani left Tehran for the Saudi port city of Jeddah on Wednesday to take part in an extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Executive Committee that will discuss the Israeli assassination of the Hamas chief on Iranian soil.

The OIC ministers have gathered in Saudi Arabia following intensive diplomatic efforts by Iran and the interim foreign minister’s multiple contacts with OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha and member states.

Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, alongside other Axis of Resistance leaders, was martyred along with his bodyguard, in an attack early on July 31.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a "harsh response" for Haniyeh's assassination, calling it the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the Palestinian resistance leader's blood.

“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.

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