Iran stresses its response to Haniyeh assassination will be in accordance with intl. law

Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian resistance movement’s Political Bureau, was assassinated alongside one of his bodyguards in the Iranian capital on Wednesday.

Gharibabadi said Iran was “completely rightful” to deliver an “appropriate response” to the assassination in line with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, which entitles the world body’s member states to resort to self-defense in case of coming under an armed attack.

“Whatever response [that could take place] on the part of the Islamic Republic to this terrorist criminal act would [therefore] be completely consistent with the international law and the UN Charter,” Gharibabadi said.

Iran has blamed Israel for the assassination, with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warning of a "harsh response" to the assassination, and reaffirming the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the blood of the resistance leader.

Gharibabadi reminded that the Israeli regime’s atrocities against the Islamic Republic were not confined to the assassination.

He noted that Tel Aviv had, in the past, resorted to “systematic and continuous” instances of aggression against the Islamic Republic, such as subjecting many Iranian nuclear scientists and military advisors to acts of targeted killing and resorting to numerous acts of sabotage against the country.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the official said the regime’s assassination of Haniyeh as well as its ongoing war of genocide against Palestinian women and children in the Gaza Strip did not serve to showcase the regime’s power.

“This is completely indicative of the Zionist regime’s weakness and ignominy,” he said, noting that the regime was resorting to the atrocities in light of its failure to realize the strategic goals that it has been seeking to achieve in Gaza.