Iran may attack Israel if Gaza ceasefire talks fail - Reuters
Kyiv • UNN
Iran threatens to attack Israel for the assassination of a Hamas leader if ceasefire talks in Gaza fail. The US and allies are trying to convince Iran to ease tensions before the talks.
Only a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, reached as a result of negotiations that are expected to take place this week, will keep Iran from attacking Israel for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. This was reported by Reuters with reference to three senior Iranian officials, UNN reported.
Details
Iran has vowed to respond harshly to Haniyeh's assassination, which occurred during his visit to Tehran late last month and which it blames on Israel. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement. The U.S. Navy has sent warships and a submarine to the Middle East to bolster Israel's defense.
One source, a senior Iranian security official, said that Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, would launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks failed or if Israel felt it was dragging its feet. The sources did not say how long Iran would wait for progress in the talks before retaliating.
With the risk of a wider war in the Middle East increasing after the assassination of Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr, Iran has been engaged in intensive dialogue with Western countries and the United States in recent days on ways to "retaliate in a measured way," sources told Reuters.
In comments published on Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey confirmed that Washington is asking allies to help persuade Iran to ease tensions. Three sources in regional governments spoke of talks with Tehran to prevent escalation ahead of ceasefire talks in Gaza, which are scheduled to begin on Thursday in Egypt or Qatar.
"We hope that our retaliatory measures will be timely and implemented in a way that does not harm the potential ceasefire," Iran's UN mission said in a statement on Friday. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that calls for restraint "contradict the principles of international law.
"Iran and its proxies could do something as early as this week... This is the assessment of the United States as well as Israel," White House Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters on Monday.
"If something happens this week, the timing of it can certainly affect the talks we want to have on Thursday," he added.
Over the weekend, Hamas questioned the possibility of holding talks. Israel and Hamas have held several rounds of talks in recent months without agreeing on a permanent ceasefire.
In Israel, many observers believe that retaliatory measures are inevitable after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran would "severely punish" Israel for the attack on Tehran.
