Iran Dismisses Western Demands That It Drop The Israel Threat

In response to Israel’s execution of Hamas senior leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month, Iran on Tuesday rejected pleas from the West to withdraw its threat of retaliation.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani issued a statement saying, “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.”

Such a proposal “constitutes public and practical support for Israel, lacks political logic, and flies in the face of the principles and rules of international law.”

Iran and its supporters have accused Israel of killing Haniyeh while he was in Tehran on July 31 to attend President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration. Israel has not offered a statement.

In the Middle East, where tensions were already high because of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, Western diplomats have hurried to prevent a massive conflict.

The United States and its European allies urged Iran to “stand down” in a statement released on Monday.

In a joint statement, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy stated that they “called on Iran to stand down its ongoing threats of a military attack against Israel and discussed the serious consequences for regional security should such an attack take place.”