Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said on Thursday that Israel committed a costly “strategic mistake” by killing Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
“The act that the Zionists carried out in Tehran was a strategic mistake because it will cost them gravely,” Bagheri told AFP in an interview one day after attending an extraordinary session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Saudi Arabia.
Although Israel has not commented on the death of Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian. But Iran has vowed to retaliate, setting the region on edge.
Bagheri on Thursday reiterated the positions of Iranian officials, saying Tehran has a “right to self-defense.” He said an Iranian operation targeting Israel would be “exactly in line with the preservation of the security and stabilization of the region.”
Bagheri then accused Israel of seeking “to expand tension, war, and conflict to other countries,” while asserting it was not in a position to fight Iran.
“The Zionists are in no position to start a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
“They neither have the capacity nor the strength,” the FM added.
Right to Self-Defense
Despite growing fears the conflict could lead to further escalation in the region and calls for all sides to exercise restraint, especially by the United States, Bagheri said that OIC member states expressed their support for an Iranian response to Haniyeh’s assassination.
He then criticized Western states that are urging Iran to limit its response, saying that they are in no “position to advise Iran.” He underlined that these nations “need to answer questions,” on the assassination of Haniyeh.
Bagheri also affirmed that the “Security Council is responsible for deterring and confronting threats against UN member states.”
He criticized the West for “failing to condemn” the assassination, and accused the US and Britain of obstructing Security Council resolutions that were supposed to “deter Israel.”
Iran’s Agents
The assassination of Haniyeh came hours after Hezbollah’s military commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike in Beirut Southern Suburbs.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said that his group and Iran were “obliged to respond whatever the consequences.”
Bagheri on Thursday said that Hezbollah and other Iran-allied groups in the region, including Yemen's Houthi group, had “similar goals” but would make independent decisions on how to pursue them.
“We have similar goals but, in the field, the resistance movement acts based (on) its own... understanding of the situation and its interests,” he said.
Asked about the Yemeni Houthi group who is attacking ships in the Red Sea it says are headed for Israel, the Iranian FM said, “The Yemenis are supporting the people of Gaza.”
He added that the Yemeni Houthis are part of the “axis of resistance,” and therefore, “are acting right by confronting the killers.”
