Iran's ambassador to the UN appealed to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asking that the Iranian attack on Israel in October be recognized as legitimate after Defense Minister Israel Katz claimed responsibility for the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
“This audacious and shameless confession to the assassination of a political leader within the sovereign territory of a United Nations Member State once again underscores the international responsibility of the Israeli regime for its acts of terrorism and aggression. It also reaffirms the legitimacy and legality of Iran's defensive response on 1 October 2024, as well as Iran's consistent position that the occupying and terrorist regime of Israel remains the most serious threat to regional and international peace and security,” said the letter to Guterres.
“This regime is now desperately attempting to justify and legitimize its past and future acts of aggression against Yemen's sovereignty and territorial integrity by fabricating baseless allegations against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it charged, calling on the Security Council to “not allow the continued impunity of a regime that flagrantly defies international law, destabilizes the region, and threatens and endangers international peace and security.”
Katz on Monday confirmed for the first time that Israel eliminated Haniyeh in Tehran in July.
"In these days, when the Houthi terror organization is firing missiles at Israel, I want to convey a clear message to them: We have defeated Hamas, we have defeated Hezbollah, we have blinded the defense systems in Iran, and damaged their missile production systems. We have overthrown the Assad regime in Syria, we have dealt heavy blows to the ‘axis of evil,’ and we will also severely strike the Houthi terror organization in Yemen, which is now the last one standing,” Katz said.
“We will strike [the Houthis’] strategic infrastructure and decapitate its leaders. Just as we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar, and Nasrallah, in Tehran, Gaza, and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeidah and Sanaa," he added, referencing the elimination of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah.