Israel made a costly “strategic mistake” with the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week, Iran's acting foreign minister told AFP in an interview on Thursday.
“The act committed by the Zionists in Tehran was a strategic mistake because it will cost them a lot of money,” Ali Bagheri said a day after attending an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi coastal city of Jeddah.
While Israel has not commented on Haniyeh's death, Iran has announced plans to retaliate, sending the region into turmoil.
Bagheri accused Israel of “wanting to spread tension, war and conflict to other countries,” while saying it is not in a position to fight Iran.
“The Zionists are not capable of starting a war against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he said.
“They have neither the capacity nor the strength.”
The meeting of the OIC's 57 foreign ministers on Wednesday resulted in a statement holding Israel “fully responsible” for the “horrific” killing of Haniyeh, who lived in Qatar and was a key player in negotiations to end the war in the Gaza Strip.
The war began with Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,198 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
Palestinian militants have taken 251 hostages, 111 of whom are still being held in Gaza. According to the Israeli army, 39 are dead.
At least 39,699 people have been killed in Israel's military retaliation in Gaza, according to the Hamas-ruled territory's health ministry. The ministry did not provide details on the number of civilians and militants killed.
Hezbollah, Hamas's Lebanese ally, has also announced retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh and that of her military commander Fuad Shukr during an Israeli raid in Beirut hours earlier.
rs-rcb/dr
