Iran calls for emergency OIC meeting after assassination of Hamas leader

Iran's Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has urged an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The call was made during a telephone conversation with Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdel Aty, following the reported assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Palestinian Hamas Politburo, in Tehran, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media. 

Kani stated that the aim of the emergency meeting is "to condemn the actions of the criminal Zionist regime [referring to Israel] and to counter them."

He emphasized Iran's "inalienable right to retaliate against the criminal Zionists."

A source in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to comment on the reports of Haniyeh's death, according to TASS. Additionally, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has instructed ministers to refrain from making public statements on the issue, and members of parliament have received similar guidance.