Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Israel’s September 9 strike on Hamas leaders in Doha amounted to terrorism and warned that no Arab or Muslim capital is safe from future attacks.
"There should be no doubt that last week’s attacks on Doha were pure terrorism; proof that the Tel Aviv regime has cast aside every moral and legal restraint," Pezeshkian told an emergency summit of Arab and Islamic leaders in Doha on Monday.
The Iranian president said the strike was a pre-planned attempt to destroy diplomatic efforts to end the war in Gaza.
“This aggression against diplomacy is more than a crime; it is an open and shameless declaration that now military power, and not law, is decisive,” he added.
Israeli warplanes bombed a Hamas office in Doha on Tuesday, in what Israel described as ac targeted attack against the group’s senior leadership.
They missed their intended targets, killing a Qatari security official and five lower-ranking Hamas personnel.
Qatar denounced the attack as “criminal and cowardly,” while Iran called it an “extremely dangerous” violation of sovereignty and international law.
Pezeshkian accused the United States and Western powers of giving Israel decades of impunity through vetoes, trade and diplomatic protection.
“When a rogue regime receives weapons, financing and diplomatic support under any circumstances, it learns that there are no limits. History will remember the guilt of those who supported this aggression,” he said.
“The Zionist regime has declared war against our sovereignty, dignity and future. We will not be intimidated, we will not be divided, and we will not remain silent. From the ashes of Gaza, justice will rise. From the rubble of destroyed buildings in Doha, Beirut, Tehran, Damascus and Sanaa, a new order will emerge,” Pezeshkian said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said on Monday he would not rule out further strikes on Hamas leaders “wherever they are.”
The September 9 strike in Doha marked a sharp escalation of Israel’s campaign, in a region already convulsed by conflict since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks that ignited an ongoing war in Gaza.
It appeared to push a negotiated solution to the Gaza conflict further away and left in doubt the next chapter of a regional confrontation pitting Iran against Israel and the United States.
