Russia condemns assassination of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

Moscow, July 31 : Russia on Wednesday "strongly condemned" the assassination of the head of the Hamas Politburo, Ismail Haniyeh as a result of a missile strike on his residence in Tehran.

Addressing mediapersons, Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Andrey Nastasin asserted that it is obvious that the "organisers of this political assassination" were aware of the dangerous consequences this action would have for the entire region.

"There is no doubt that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh will have an extremely negative impact on the course of indirect contacts between Hamas and Israel, within the framework of which mutually acceptable conditions for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip were being agreed upon," said Nastasin.

The attack was carried out during the Hamas leader's stay in Iran, where he was officially invited to participate in the inauguration ceremony of Iran's newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian.

"Once again, we strongly urge all parties involved to exercise restraint and refrain from steps that could lead to a dramatic degradation of the security situation in the region and provoke a large-scale armed confrontation," said the Russian Foreign Ministry's Deputy Director.

Moscow also condemned Israel's strike in Beirut, calling it a "flagrant violation" of the Lebanese sovereignty and the norms of international law.

"We express our deep concern at the growing threat of a sharp deterioration of the situation in the Middle East," stated Nastasin.