Tehran, August 2 (RHC)-- Iran's acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and collective condemnation by the regional states of the Israeli regime’s assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Bagheri Kani made the call in separate phone conversations with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty.

“By crossing red lines, committing flagrant terrorist aggression over the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh and violating the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the fake Zionist regime has posed serious threats to regional security and stability,” Bagheri Kani said.

The top Iranian diplomat stressed that the Islamic Republic would use its “inherent and legitimate right” to take decisive action against the occupying entity.  “An emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is essential to address such blatant crimes in the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh and blatant violation of the national security of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Bagheri Kani said.

The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, for their parts, condemned in the strongest terms the assassination of the Hamas leader and said Tehran reserves the right to defend its territorial integrity.

“Saudi Arabia welcomes the proposed convention of an OIC meeting to investigate the martyrdom of Ismail Haniyeh and emphasizes the continuation of consultations between the two countries,” Bin Farhan said.

Qatar’s foreign minister said the Israeli regime knows no boundaries in carrying out its criminal actions and hailed Haniyeh as a unique figure in the Islamic world, adding, “His loss is a great disaster for the Islamic Ummah.”

Turkey’s Fidan praised the Iranian proposal for the convention of an OIC meeting and said, “It is necessary for all countries in the region to condemn this heinous crime and take decisive measures to counter the terrorist actions of the Zionist regime.”

Abdelatty voiced Egypt’s vehement denunciation of the targeted killing of the Hamas politburo chief and threw Cairo’s weight behind Tehran's initiative.

The Israeli assassination took place in the wee hours of Wednesday, with initial reports stating that the Hamas leader was targeted by a "guided missile" that struck his accommodation in the north of the Iranian capital.

Iranian authorities announced that rigorous investigations have been launched into the targeted killing of Haniyeh in Tehran and the results will subsequently be released. The Islamic Republic has declared three days of national mourning for the loss of the Palestinian resistance leader.

Palestinian groups have already condemned his assassination in the strongest terms, vowing to make those behind the assassination pay the price of the heinous act.

Ismail Haniyeh was born in a refugee camp near Gaza City and joined Hamas in the late 1980s during the First Intifada or uprising.  As Hamas grew in power, Haniyeh rose through the ranks and was appointed part of a “collective leadership” in 2004 and reached the Hamas top job in 2017. 

Three of his sons and five grandchildren were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza in April.  As he buried them -- just three months ago -- Ismail Haniyeh vowed to continue the struggle for a free Palestine.