Russia calls for Middle East to step back from the brink of war

31/7/2024 17:38

        Russia on Wednesday condemned the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran and called on all parties to refrain from steps that could tip the Middle East into a major war.
        
        Hamas's Haniyeh was assassinated in the early hours of the morning in Iran, the Palestinian militant group said, drawing fears of wider escalation in a region shaken by Israel's war in Gaza and a worsening conflict on the Israel-Lebanon border.
        
        "We strongly condemn the murder of the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, as a result of a rocket attack on his residence in Tehran," Andrei Nastasin, deputy spokesman of Russia's foreign ministry told reporters.
        
        "It is obvious that the organisers of this political assassination were aware of the dangerous consequences this action is fraught with for the entire region."
        Russia, he said, had paid attention to the fact that the killing took place in Iran.