Iran minister tells Italian counterpart, response to Israel attack will be "definitive"
Aug 26, 2024
Tehran [Iran], August 26 : An Iranian minister has vowed to punish Israel over the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last month.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in a telephone call with his Italian counterpart, Antonio Tajani on Sunday night said that "Iran's reaction to Israeli terrorist attack in Tehran is definitive and will be measured and calculated", news outlet IRNA reported.
"We do not fear escalation, yet do not seek it-unlike Israel", Araghchi wrote on his X social media post, detailing his conversation with Tajani.
Tajani also expressed concern over the spread of insecurity in the region and urged all parties to practice self-restraint and Iran to help in reducing tensions, the country's state media reported.
On August 25 morning, Israel Defence Forces said that the Iran-backed group Hezbollah had fired more than 200 rockets and drones at Israel's northern border claiming retaliation for the assassination of its senior commander Fuad Shukr in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
This prompted a retaliation from Israel who bombed sites across South Lebanon. Israel said it took out some 1,000 Hezbollah rocket launchers in a coordinated sortie of 100 Israeli fighter jets early Sunday to thwart much of the planned assault, as per a report in the Times of Israel.
Meanwhile, the Times of Israel today reported that senior Israeli negotiators were heading to the Egyptian capital city Cairo to resume talks aimed at wrapping up a hostage release and truce deal in Gaza.
"I don't think Iran wants to find itself in escalation, especially when the US presence in the region is (now) in staggering numbers," an Israeli official was cited as saying by CNN news outlet.
The ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are being mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar.
Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for Haniyeh's killing in Tehran on July 31. However, the Israeli government has not made any statement on Haniyeh's killing. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on July 31 that Haniyeh had been killed in an attack in Tehran.
In a statement, the IRGC said that Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were killed when their house was hit in Tehran.
The IDF has also announced that top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in the Israeli strike in southern Lebanon on July 30, which came in retaliation to the rocket attack at Golan Heights that killed 12 children, The Times of Israel reported.
