Pakistan ‘fully supports’ Iran’s call for OIC extraordinary meeting on Haniyeh’s killing, FO says

Acting Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Bagheri Kani called the Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday and shared the Iranian nation’s and leadership’s deep anguish on the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said.

Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, was assassinated in Tehran on the occasion of the inauguration of Iran’s president, intensifying tensions in the Middle East as Iran blamed Israel for the killing and vowed revenge.

According to the foreign ministry, the deputy prime minister conveyed similar sentiments and Pakistan’s condemnation of the developments in Gaza and the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh “in the strongest possible terms”.

The Iranian counterpart also requested Dar to participate in the extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being convened at the foreign minister level.

“The deputy prime minister fully supported this call and confirmed that Pakistan will actively participate in the important meeting,” the FO said.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the assassination of Hamas political chief as he addressed the National Assembly session that passed a resolution condemning Israeli aggression in Gaza as well as Haniyeh’s assassination.

Referring to Israel, the prime minister said the Zionist state should be held accountable for the killing of Haniyeh who was assassinated in Tehran where he had gone to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

Pakistan also observed a day of mourning on Friday in solidarity with the Palestinians and to condemn Haniyeh’s assassination and Israeli aggression in Gaza, which has led to the killing of more than 40,000 Palestinians since Hamas’s October 7 attacks in Israel.

Both Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah vowed to take revenge as they blamed Israel for the killing of Haniyeh, while Israel said it was ready to face any attack and would respond forcefully - a situation that has caused fears of a regional war in the Middle East.