Iran says it has ‘legal right’ to punish Israel for Haniyeh killing, doesn’t want all-out war
- Iran and Hamas, as well as other Tehran-aligned armed groups, have vowed to retaliate
Iran signalled it wants to avoid all-out war with Israel, even as it said it has the “legal right” to respond to the assassination in Tehran last week of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, an attack blamed on Israel amid the Gaza war.
“No one has the right to doubt Iran’s legal right to punish the Zionist regime”, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told a regular news conference, referring to Israel.
“Reinforcing stability and security in the region will be achieved by punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against Israel and its adventurism,” Kanani told reporters on Monday in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic has the right, within the framework of international law, to punish Israel but does not want to escalate tensions in the Middle East, he said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Israel killed Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside his residence in the Iranian capital, which he was visiting to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran and Hamas, as well as other Tehran-aligned armed groups in the Middle East, have vowed to retaliate.
Israel’s in a “multi-front war against Iran’s axis of evil,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. “We are striking every one of its arms with great force. We are prepared for any scenario – both offensively and defensively.”