TEHRAN:
Iran said on Saturday it wanted to avoid a negative impact on Gaza ceasefire talks with expected retaliation against Israel for the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh last month.
Achieving a permanent ceasefire in Gaza remains a priority, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN said in a statement following inquiries about whether Tehran would delay its plans to retaliate for planned ceasefire talks.
He also said that any deal accepted by Hamas would also be accepted by Iran.
The statement condemned the killing of Haniyeh in Tehran as a “violation of Iran’s national security and sovereignty.”
Iran stressed its right to self-defense, but said it hoped its response would not hinder ongoing ceasefire efforts.
The Iranian statement comes amid heightened tensions following the killing of Haniyeh on July 31, as well as previous Israeli raids in Beirut that killed Fouad Shukr, a senior commander of the Lebanese Hezbollah group.
On Thursday, leaders from Egypt, Qatar and the US called for the resumption of ceasefire and hostage exchange talks between Israel and Hamas, which had been scheduled for Wednesday or Thursday next week in Doha or Cairo.
Israel’s offensive against the Gaza Strip has killed nearly 39,700 people since last October following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
More than 10 months after the Israeli attack, vast swaths of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately end its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians had sought refuge from war before its May 6 invasion. .
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