Iran to ‘punish’ Israel while seeking to avoid escalation
DUBAI/BEIRUT—Iran is not looking to escalate regional tensions but needs to punish Israel to prevent further instability, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Nasser Kanaani said that action from Tehran was inevitable as urgent calls grew for foreign nationals to leave Lebanon, which would be on the front line of a regional war.
“Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel),” Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ top Commander Hossein Salami on Monday reiterated the elite group’s threat that Israel “will receive punishment in due time.”
Tehran and Iran-aligned groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah have accused Israel of killing Haniyeh on July 31.
No claim of responsibility
Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility.France’s Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Sunday a regional military escalation must be avoided “at all costs,” the French presidency said after they held a telephone call.
With major military action from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement and others widely expected, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said: “If they dare to attack us, they will pay a heavy price.”
Lebanon’s official National News Agency had reported Israeli strikes on various areas of south Lebanon, after Hezbollah said it had fired a fresh barrage of rockets at northern Israel.
The Israeli military said most of the 30 projectiles launched from Lebanon were intercepted.
Saudi Arabia and France became the latest of several countries calling on their citizens to leave Lebanon.
“In a highly volatile security context,” the foreign ministry in Paris “urgently asked” its nationals to avoid traveling to Lebanon and suggested those already in the country leave “as soon as possible.”
France also urged its nationals living in Iran to “temporarily leave.”
Several Western airlines have suspended flights to Lebanon and other airports in the region.
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