Russia says organizers of Hamas chief's assassination ‘counting’ on US involvement

​​​​​​​By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said Thursday that organizers of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran are “counting” on involving the US in the region to erase UN resolutions on Palestine.

“The organizers of such provocations clearly expect to disrupt the already stalled negotiation process and are counting on involving the US in military actions in order to consign to oblivion the UN resolutions on the creation of a Palestinian state,” said a statement from the Foreign Ministry following a telephone conversation between Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his acting Iranian counterpart, Ali Bagheri.

Indicating that Russia and Iran condemned the assassination, the statement said both defined political assassinations as “unacceptable” and such actions are “extremely dangerous, fraught with a sharp escalation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict zone and a landslide degradation of the regional situation.”

The statement cited Lavrov as urging all parties that influence the situation in the Gaza Strip and the Middle East to “avoid actions that could lead to further destabilization of the situation and result in new casualties among the civilian population.”

Hamas and Iran announced Haniyeh's assassination early Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike that targeted his residence in Tehran, after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian.

While Israel has not commented on the killing, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at Tel Aviv's involvement in Haniyeh's assassination.

Hamas and Iran have vowed to retaliate for Haniyeh's killing, while international efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region continue amid fears of a broader regional conflict.​​​​​​​