Iran will respond at ‘right time’ to killing of Hamas leader

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia 

Iran’s acting foreign minister has said the country will respond to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh at the “right time” in the "appropriate" manner, following a day of intense diplomacy in the Middle East.

His comments came during an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), a group of states with Muslim-majority populations, which convened in Saudi Arabia to discuss Iran’s response to the killing.

The US said it hoped OIC members would caution Iran against taking “steps to escalate the conflict”.

Tensions in the Middle East have soared since Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran last week. Iran and its allies blamed Israel, though Israel has not commented.

The OIC convened in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah on Wednesday, at the request of Iranian and Palestinian officials.

Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Baqeri Ali Bagheri Kani told members “it is expected” that they support Iran’s response to the killing.

“Iran's action is not only a defence of its own sovereignty and national security but also a defence of the stability and security of the entire region," he said.

A statement later released by the OIC said the bloc holds Israel "fully responsible" for the "heinous attack", which it described as "a serious infringement" of Iran's sovereignty.

But it stopped short of endorsing any Iranian military action.

In April, Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel - nearly all of which were shot down - in retaliation to an attack on its diplomatic compound in Syria. Many fear Iran's response on this occasion could take a similar form.

OIC Chair Mamadou Tangara said Haniyeh’s killing had the potential to cause “a wider conflict that could involve the entire region".

The killing "will not quell the Palestinian cause but rather it amplifies it,” he said.

Saudi Arabia commented on the killing for the first time on Wednesday, with deputy Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Khuraiji calling it a "blatant violation" of Iran's sovereignty.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the US hoped "all parties that have a relationship with Iran impress upon Iran, the same way we've been impressing upon the government of Israel, that they shouldn't take any steps to escalate the conflict".

Miller said the US had been in contact with some members of the OIC and believed there is a "broad consensus" that "escalation would only exacerbate the problems facing the region".

Diplomatic efforts have been ongoing since the start of the week, with US President Joe Biden speaking on the phone to the leaders of Jordan, Qatar and Egypt on Tuesday.

"No one should escalate this conflict. We've been engaged in intense diplomacy with allies and partners, communicating that message directly to Iran. We communicated that message directly to Israel," US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Tuesday.

In a phone call on Wednesday, French president Emmanuel Macron told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that an Iranian escalation “would lastingly harm regional stability.”

Pezeshkian told Macron that if the West wants to prevent war it "should immediately stop selling arms and supporting" Israel, his office said.