TEHRAN -- Interim Foreign 
Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has reiterated Iran’s “inherent right” to self-defense and reciprocal action after Israel’s assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“The Zionist regime’s terrorist act of assassinating Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran did not only violate the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Islamic Republic, but also endangered regional and international peace and stability,” Bagheri Kani told UN chief Antonio Guterres over phone on Thursday.
“Iran will not forgo its inherent right to defend itself and take reciprocal action to punish the criminal Zionists,” he stressed.
He touched on Wednesday’s meeting of the UN Security Council, during which the United States and European countries prevented the body from condemning the assassination.
The aggressive Israeli action will put regional peace and stability at risk, he warned, calling on the international community to stand up against the criminal regime.
The UN chief said he has condemned the two Israeli assassinations in Beirut and Tehran.
Guterres acknowledged that under international law, Iran has the right to legitimate self-defense in response to violations of its national security and territorial integrity.
Guterres also expressed concerns about the repercussions of an all-out Israeli war on Lebanon.
Bagheri Kani said the international community should put pressure on Israel to stop its crimes in Gaza.
Separately, Bagheri Kani talked over the phone with Algerian Foreign Minister Ahmed Attaf, stressing that Iran will “decisively and effectively” punish Israel for crossing the Islamic Republic’s red line.
He also thanked Algeria for supporting the holding of the Security Council meeting to counter Israel’s terrorist acts.
Attaf, for his part, stressed the Algerian government and people’s strong condemnation of the Zionist regime’s crime on Iranian soil that violated the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
In a separate phone call with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Bagheri Kani said Iran will definitely bring the “notorious and criminal” Israeli regime to justice.
“The Zionists have caused bloodshed in Gaza in the past 10 months and now they have expanded the scope of their crimes to Beirut, Tehran, and Yemen,” he said, warning that “if the terrorist criminals are not stopped, they will seriously endanger regional and international peace and security.”
Safadi, for his part, condemned the Israeli crime as a violation of Iran’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Israel wants an escalation of tensions in the region, he said, calling for efforts to prevent the expansion of the Gaza war.
Separately, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran is unacceptable, warning of its extremely dangerous consequences.
In a telephone conversation with Bagheri Kani on Thursday evening, both sides noted that the architects of this provocative move wish to scuttle efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The U.S., they said, is militarily involved in all Israeli attempts to consign UN Security Council resolutions on formation of a Palestinian state into oblivion.
Lavrov called upon all parties that can influence the situation in the Gaza Strip and West Asia to avoid

 any action that could cause further destabilization and loss of lives.
In a separate phone call with Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi, Bagheri Kani stated that Israel has posed grave risks to regional stability and security by violating Iran’s territorial integrity and national security.
“Iran will, therefore, exercise its inherent and legitimate right to take countermeasures and duly punish the Zionist regime,” he said.
Bagheri said Iran has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation at the foreign ministers’ level to address Haniyeh’s killing and violation of its territorial integrity and national security.
For his part, Busaidi condemned the assassination of the prominent Palestinian leader and violation of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s territorial integrity.
Haniyeh was standing at the forefront of the Axis of Resistance against aggression and occupation in the region, Busaidi said, adding he made a great deal of efforts to stop the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the top Omani diplomat stated.