Middle East: Iran rejects European calls for restraint

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said today that calls for restraint against Israel, made by France, Germany and Britain, “are lacking political logic and contradicting the principles of international law”. The three European countries issued yesterday, Monday, a statement calling on Iran and its allies to refrain from attacks on Israel following the murder of Ismail Haniya, the political leader of the Islamic Palestinian organisation Hamas, last month in Tehran. Tehran and its allies, Hamas and the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah, have blamed Israel for the murder. The Israeli government has not taken responsibility. Without any objection to the crimes of the Zionist regime (Israel), the E3 statement shamelessly asks Iran not to respond to a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani. Kanaani stressed that Tehran is determined to block Israel and called on Paris, Berlin and London “to stand up once and for all against the war in Gaza and warlike Israel”. SOURCE: RES-EPO