Iran rejects Western calls to stand down Israel threat

Tehran, Iran – AFP

Iran on Tuesday rejected Western calls to stand down its threat to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month.

The Islamic republic and its allies have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing on July 31 during a visit to the Iranian capital for the swearing-in of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has not commented.

Iran has vowed to avenge the death, which came hours after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, a powerful group in Lebanon.

Western diplomats have scrambled to prevent a major conflagration in the Middle East, where tensions are already high due to Israel’s war on Gaza.

In a statement on Monday, the United States and its European allies urged Iran to de-escalate.

The White House warned that a “significant set of attacks” by Iran and its allies was possible this week, saying Israel shared the same assessment.

The United States has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group and a guided missile submarine to the region in support of Israel.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani criticised the Western call for restraint.

“The declaration by France, Germany and Britain, which raised no objection to the international crimes of the Zionist regime, brazenly asks Iran to take no deterrent action against a regime which has violated its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said in a statement.

– Far-right minister opposes talks  –

The United States and its European allies also called for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, with talks to resume on Thursday.

Israel has killed at least 39,929 people in Gaza since October 7 last year after an attack by Hamas, according to a toll from the territory’s health ministry.

Far-right parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition strongly oppose any cease-fire in Gaza, a point rammed home by firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on a visit to Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound that was swiftly condemned by its custodian Jordan.

Defying longstanding rules that allow Jews and other non-Muslims to visit the compound but not to pray there, Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israelis in singing Jewish hymns and performing Talmudic rituals, images posted on social media networks showed.

In a video filmed inside the compound, Ben Gvir renewed his opposition to any let-up in the Gaza war.

“We must win and not go to the talks in Doha or Cairo,” the minister said, referring to the truce talks planned for Thursday.

Netanyahu’s office said Ben Gvir’s visit “deviated from the status quo”. It said Israel’s policy on the Temple Mount remained unchanged.

Hamas has urged mediators to implement a truce plan earlier presented by US President Joe Biden instead of holding more talks.

Analyst Esfandyar Batmanghelidj said Iran was considering how to retaliate against Israel without derailing the cease-fire talks.

“The renewed push for a cease-fire offers Iran a way out of this escalatory cycle,” Batmanghelidj, CEO of the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation think-tank, told AFP.

“Iranian officials still feel obliged to hit back at Israel, but they must do so in a way that doesn’t derail the prospects for a cease-fire summit.”

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas in Moscow and told him he was “concerned” about civilian deaths in Gaza.

Putin called for a cease-fire and the “creation of a fully-fledged Palestinian state”, according to images shown on Russian state television.