Tehran Diplomat Says Gaza's Armistice Has Nothing To Do With Iran's Response To Israel

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Badminton. (Twitter/Iran Foreign Ministry)

JAKARTA - A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry stressed that Iran continues to welcome a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, but this issue has nothing to do with Tehran's legal right to respond to Israel's Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh.

"The ceasefire is an international demand that killings that have been going on for more than ten months must be stopped, and these negotiations continue within the framework of global demands and Palestinian wishes," Nasser Sazi said in response to reporters' questions Monday, reported by Mehr News Agency Aug. 20.

He further said Iran was the most important and strongest international supporter to stop the war in Gaza, adding the country would continue to support the efforts of other countries in this regard.

"But this issue has nothing to do with Iran's legal right to respond to the aggressor," he stressed.

"Iran's official guest became the target of a terrorist attack on Iranian soil and was martyred. He was the leader of the political negotiation process to establish a ceasefire. Therefore, the regime (Israel) basically showed they were not willing to follow the political process by killing Haniyeh," he explained.

He underlined that Iran has the right to maintain its security and territorial integrity based on the United Nations Charter.

He stressed that asking Iran to refrain from such situations was an irrational request.

It is known that Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were martyred after their residence was targeted by an attack on Tehran on July 31, according to a statement released by the IRGC.

He was present in Tehran to take part in the inauguration of the elected president Masoud Pezeshkian which was held the day before.

In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the killing of Ismail Haniyeh was "designed and carried out by the Zionist regime and supported by the United States."

In response to Israeli terror acts, top Iranian officials promised to give the Zionist regime a proper response. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said, by killing Ismail Haniyeh, the Israeli regime had prepared a basis for severe punishment for itself.

In early August, Iran's Supreme Leaders political adviser Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani wrote on social media platform X that preparations had been made to severely punish regimes that understood only the language of violence.

"The only goal of the Israeli regime in killing the worshipers of the Al-Tabin school in Gaza and killing the martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Iran was to wage war and make ceasefire negotiations fail," wrote Shamkhani.

"Preparations for severe punishment for the Israeli regime have been carried out after legal, diplomatic, and media proceedings," he added.