Iran calls for OIC meeting to condemn Hamas chief's assassination

Tehran: Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has called for an emergency ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in condemnation of the assassination of Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh.

He made the plea in phone calls with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and Qatar, while stressing that Iran reserved its "inherent and legitimate" right to retaliate the "blatant crime," according to statements released by his ministry.

Speaking to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Bagheri Kani said Israel had seriously jeopardized regional stability and security by crossing several red lines, citing its "terrorist aggression" in assassinating Haniyeh and violating Iran's national security.

The strike on Haniyeh, widely attributed to Israel, was not acknowledged or commented upon by the Israeli government.

Bagheri Kani stressed that Iran would take a "regret-inducing and decisive action" against Israel to make it "eternally rue its constant insanity," calling for convening an emergency OIC meeting to discuss the "conspicuous Israeli crime."

The Saudi foreign minister, for his part, condemned the assassination of Haniyeh and action against Iran's territorial integrity, assessing the region's current circumstances as "critical and dangerous."

He highlighted the necessity of de-escalating tensions in the region, welcoming the holding of the OIC meeting, Xinhua news agency reported.

In his phone call with Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, Bagheri Kani urged all regional and Muslim states to take action to counter the "terrorist aggression" by Israel.

The Egyptian minister said his country had, in an official statement, condemned the "criminal" move of assassinating Haniyeh, while supporting Iran's initiative for convening an OIC meeting to counter the "terrorist actions."

With Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Bagheri Kani said, "Israel martyred a prominent figure of the Muslim world and an indefatigable warrior of the Palestinian resistance."

Urging for the OIC meeting, Bagheri Kani called on all regional states to condemn the "heinous Israeli crime" and take "decisive" actions to counter such "terrorist moves."

Fidan condemned the "terrorist move," saying Türkiye fully supported Iran's "legitimate and diplomatic" initiative to hold an emergency OIC meeting.

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in his phone call with Bagheri Kani, expressed condemnation of the assassination of Haniyeh, and welcomed the immediate holding of an OIC meeting.

Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit, according to Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which said Israel had carried out the "terrorist attack" and vowed "a harsh and painful response."