Iran says it has no choice but to retaliate against Israel over Haniyeh assassination

Iran has no choice but to respond to Israel’s “aggressions,” Iran’s acting foreign minister said on Wednesday, as the Middle East awaits Tehran’s response to Israel over the killing of a Hamas leader in the Iranian capital last week.

“In the absence of appropriate action by the Security Council against the aggressions and violations of the Israeli regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran has no choice but to exercise its inherent right to legitimate defense against this regime’s actions,” Iranian media quoted Ali Bagheri-Kani as saying during an extraordinary session of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The meeting was convened partly at Iran’s request, following the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last Wednesday, an attack that Iran has attributed to Israel. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bagheri-Kani said that Iranian retaliation is “necessary to prevent further encroachments by this regime on the sovereignty, nationals, and territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and added that it would be executed “at the appropriate time and in a proportionate manner.”

He said that Haniyeh’s killing could not have occurred without “US consent and intelligence support,” and therefore, US responsibility for the attack “should not be ignored.”