Iran condemns Israel’s ‘brazen admission’ of killing Hamas ex-leader

Iran accused Israel on Tuesday of committing a “heinous crime” and defended its missile-strike reaction in response to what it described as Israel’s “brazen admission” that it killed former Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year.

“This brazen admission marks the first time the Israeli regime has openly confessed to its responsibility for this heinous crime,” said Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani in a letter addressed to the UN secretary-general.

The first public admission that Israel was responsible for the murder was made on Monday by Israel Katz, the country’s defense minister.

According to reports, an explosive device planted by Israeli agents weeks prior murdered Haniyeh in a Tehran hotel on July 31. Haniyeh was seen as spearheading Hamas’s efforts to negotiate a truce in Gaza.

Israel had never acknowledged killing Haniyeh before Monday, although Hamas and Iran had blamed the country for the death of the Hamas senior leader.

In October, Iran said it fired 200 missiles at Israel, an apparent response to the killing. Israel said most of the projectiles were intercepted either by its own air defenses or by allies’ air forces.

On Tuesday, Iranian UN Ambassador Iravani termed Israel’s killing of Haniyeh a “heinous terrorist act,” adding that Katz’s statement showed Iran was justified in striking Israel in retaliation.

“It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran’s defensive response on 1 October 2024, as well as Iran’s consistent position that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security.”

Israel murdered Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, in a bombing in Beirut on September 27. On October 16, Haniyeh’s successor, Yahya Sinwar, was slain in Gaza.

Israeli authorities claim that Sinwar was the architect behind the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which set off the current conflict in the Gaza Strip, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives and left a large portion of Palestinian territory in ruins.