Iran is not seeking to escalate tensions in the region but believes it must punish Israel to prevent further instability, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday. This statement follows the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, an act Tehran has attributed to Israel.
“Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.
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Kanaani also urged the United States to cease its support for Israel, arguing that the international community has failed in its duty to ensure regional stability and should instead support the “punishment of the aggressor.”
Hossein Salami, the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), reiterated this stance, stating that Israel “will receive punishment in due time.” Both Tehran and groups aligned with it, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, have accused Israel of orchestrating Haniyehâs assassination on July 31.
Israeli officials have neither claimed responsibility for the killing nor denied it.