Iran on Tuesday (Dec 24) denounced what it termed Israel’s “brazen admission” of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a “heinous crime” and defending its missile-strike response.
“This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime,” said Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general.
On Monday, Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz acknowledged his country was responsible for the killing, the first time an official admission had been made.
Haniyeh, who was seen as leading Hamas’ negotiation efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza, was killed in a guesthouse in Tehran on Jul 31, reportedly by an explosive device that had been placed by Israeli operatives weeks before.
Until Monday, Israel had never admitted to killing Haniyeh, but Iran and Hamas had attributed the Hamas political leader’s death to the nation.
In October, Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel, an apparent response to the killing. Israel said most of the projectiles were intercepted either by its own air defenses or by allies’ air forces.
On Tuesday, Iranian UN Ambassador Iravani termed Israel’s killing of Haniyeh a “heinous terrorist act,” adding that Katz’s statement showed Iran was justified in striking Israel in retaliation.
“It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran’s defensive response on Oct 1, 2024, as well as Iran’s consistent position that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security.”
On Sep 27, Israel killed Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a Beirut bombing, which was followed by the killing of Haniyeh’s successor Yahya Sinwar on Oct 16 in Gaza.
Israeli officials say Sinwar masterminded the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel, which sparked the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed tens of thousands and reduced much of the Palestinian territory to rubble.
