Free Republic

Iran reserves the right to carry out a “legitimate response” against Israel for the assassination in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Iran’s acting foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani told his Egyptian counterpart, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA). Israel has not taken responsibility for the killing, but it has been widely presumed to have carried it out.

DUBAI, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Iran is not looking to escalate regional tensions but believes it needs to punish Israel to prevent further instability, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Monday, following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week. "Iran seeks to establish stability in the region, but this will only come with punishing the aggressor and creating deterrence against the adventurism of the Zionist regime (Israel)," Nasser Kanaani said, adding that action from Tehran was inevitable. Kanaani called on the United States to stop supporting Israel, saying the international community had failed in its duty...

Russia has been condemned for rolling out the red carpet in Moscow for senior leaders of Hamas and Iran — which one alarmed expert called proof President Vladimir Putin is forming a new “axis of terror against the West.” Russian Foreign Ministry officials met with Hamas leaders Bassem Naeem and Mousa Abu Marzouk in Moscow on Thursday, just weeks after their terror group stormed Israel and slaughtered at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians. The terrorist leaders posed with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Putin’s special envoy in the Middle East — who also met Thursday with Iran’s Deputy Foreign...