Iran Says Israel's 'Punishment' Will Be 'Decisive and Undisputed'

The spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry stated that Tehran does not seek to escalate tensions in the region, but Israel must be 'punished' for its involvement in the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader. Nasser Kanani said on Monday, August 15, in a conversation with reporters: 'Iran does not seek to escalate tensions in the region, but will take action to punish the aggressor in the path of strengthening stability in the region.' This emphasis on the necessity of punishing Israel comes after the Wall Street Journal reported early on Monday, citing informed sources, that Iran rejected U.S. and Arab countries' efforts to moderate the response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Kanani claimed that Israel 'does not undertake adventurous actions without U.S. coordination,' stating that the world must strongly condemn this 'crime' and 'support the punishment of the aggressor.' The Biden administration in the U.S. has emphasized that it was unaware of the plan to assassinate the Hamas leader in Tehran, and there has been no reaction from the Israeli government on this matter. According to Iranian news agencies, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry considered Iran's 'right' to 'defend its national security and sovereignty and territorial integrity' to be 'decisive, undisputed, and unquestionable.' The G7 members expressed 'deep' concern over the escalation of the crisis and widespread conflict in the region. Ismail Haniyeh, a leader of the extremist group Hamas, which is on the U.S. and EU terrorist lists, was killed on August 10 in a residence in northern Tehran. The Revolutionary Guards, in their third statement regarding the manner of this 'assassination,' stated that Ismail Haniyeh was killed by 'short-range projectile fire... accompanied by a severe explosion.' Iranian officials in recent days have emphasized Iran's severe response to this action, accusing Israel of carrying out this 'assassination.' Hossein Salami, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards, also said on Monday that Israel 'will understand it made a mistake when it receives a strong response. They constantly make miscalculations, and they made this mistake again.' Ibrahim Rezaei, spokesperson for the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Parliament, also stated that the response to the 'assassination' of Ismail Haniyeh 'must be deterrent, decisive, regretful, and painful.' He added: 'The responses will be public and transparent, like the promised operation that has been carried out in the past.' The 'promised operation' is the name of an operation in which the Islamic Republic of Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones toward Israel on the night of April 14 of this year. Most of these missiles were intercepted by Israel and its allies and did not reach their targets. That attack was in response to the killing of a senior commander of the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guards at the Iranian consulate in Syria.