TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday rejected Western calls to stand down its threat to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and said only a ceasefire in Gaza could stop the country from direct retaliation.
In a statement on Monday, the US and its European allies urged Iran to de-escalate.
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.”
Iran rejects calls for restraint, holds second military drill in three days
Amid heightened tensions, Iran also held a second military drill in past three days in the north of the country, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday. The drill took place on Tuesday in Iran’s Gilan province on the Caspian Sea.
Ceasefire
As mediators rush to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a senior Iranian security official told Reuters that Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations.
The US ambassador to Turkiye confirmed that Washington was asking allies to help convince Iran to de-escalate tensions.
Three regional government sources described conversations with Tehran to avoid escalation ahead of the Gaza ceasefire talks, due to begin on Thursday in either Egypt or Qatar.
Iran, two of the sources said, was considering sending a representative to the ceasefire talks.
In the latest Gaza violence, an Israeli strike killed 10 members of one family in the territory’s southern district of Khan Yunis, leaving only one survivor — a three-month-old girl, a medic said.
“Ten members of the Abu Haya family were killed in an Israeli strike on Abassan in east Khan Yunis,” the medic from Nasser Hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2024
