Iran’s response to Israel not related to Gaza ceasefire talks, official says

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said the decision to strike Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, is not directly related to his country’s legal right to punish Tel Aviv for violating the country’s sovereignty.

“Iran’s support for the necessity of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and stopping the Zionist regime’s onslaught against the Palestinian people has no direct connection with Iran’s legitimate right and punishing the aggressor and responding to the aggression. These two issues are two separate matters and are not directly related to each other,” Kanaani told reporters during a weekly press conference yesterday.

Kanaani stressed his country’s support for the ceasefire talks taking place in Qatar and that it does not seek to increase tension in the region, but it will exercise its right to punish Israel at the appropriate time.

“As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we insist on our legal and indisputable right to punish the aggressor, and we have also told our friends that we do not seek to escalate tensions in the region, and we support efforts with good faith, and on the other hand, we emphasise Iran’s inherent right to assert its rights and punish the aggressor, and we will use it at the appropriate time,” he said.

Kanaani described the United States as a party to the negotiations and not a mediator, due to the military support it provides Israel in order to commit massacres in the Gaza Strip.

He pointed out that some Western countries have avoided condemning Haniyeh’s assassination and prevented statements against Israel being issued at the Security Council, yet they demanded Iran not to respond to Tel Aviv’s aggression, which is “contrary to logic and international law”.

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