News - Middle East: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has strongly condemned the Israeli regime’s recent assassination of senior Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in the Iranian capital Tehran, underlining the criminal aspects of the atrocity.

The 57-member body issued the remarks in a statement on Wednesday at the end of an extraordinary meeting that was held in the Saudi port city of Jeddah at the Islamic Republic and Palestine’s request.

It said “the illegal occupying power” was “fully responsible for this heinous attack” that claimed the lives of the Palestinian resistance movement’s Political Bureau chief and one of his bodyguards late last month.

The atrocity, the body added, “constitutes a crime of aggression, a flagrant violation of the international law and the United Nations Charter, and a serious infringement of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national security of the Islamic Republic.”

It, meanwhile, warned that the regime’s ongoing crimes undermined security and stability in the region, urging immediate and effective intervention on the part of the UN Security Council.

The comments were echoed by Saudi Arabia, whose Deputy Foreign Minister Waleed al-Khereiji said Haniyeh’s assassination amounted to a “blatant violation” of Iran’s sovereignty.

Riyadh, he added, rejected “any violation of the sovereignty of states or interference in the internal affairs of any country.”

Addressing the OIC summit earlier, Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said the country had no option but to retaliate against the Israeli regime over the assassination, saying this was necessary to deter further aggression against the Islamic Republic amid inaction by the Security Council.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has warned of a "harsh response" to the atrocity, and reaffirmed the Islamic Republic's duty to avenge the blood of the resistance leader.

Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has also said the assassination warranted a harsh and stinging response from the forces of the Axis of Resistance, particularly the Islamic Republic.

Source: Press TV

#Israel #Hamas #Assassination #OIC #Ismail Haniyeh About 3 months