Pakistan ‘Fully Supports’ Iran’s Call for OIC Extraordinary Meeting After Hamas Political Chief Killing

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday stated that Pakistan fully supports Iran’s call for an “extraordinary meeting” of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) following the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Tehran, the Foreign Office (FO) announced in a press release.

The Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had earlier threatened a “harsh punishment” for Haniyeh’s killing, led prayers for the Palestinian leader’s burial in Qatar on Thursday.

Haniyeh had been visiting Tehran for Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony when he was killed.

Thousands of mourners carrying posters of Haniyeh and Palestinian flags gathered for the ceremony at Tehran University before a procession.

Haniyeh’s death was announced by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who stated that he and his bodyguard were killed in a strike on their accommodation in the Iranian capital at 2 am on Wednesday.

It came just hours after Israel targeted and killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in a retaliatory strike on the Lebanese capital Beirut, raising fears of a wider regional conflict in the fallout from the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

Israel has declined to comment on the Tehran strike.

Iran’s conservative parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran “will certainly carry out the supreme leader’s order [to avenge Haniyeh].” He added, “It is our duty to respond at the right time and in the right place,” during a speech with crowds chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America!”

In a telephonic conversation with Dar today, Acting Foreign Minister of Iran Ali Bagehri Kani expressed his country’s deep anguish over the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

FM Dar conveyed to his Iranian counterpart that Pakistan shared their sentiments, adding that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had condemned the developments in Gaza and the atrocious assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in the “strongest possible terms.”

Moreover, the National Assembly unanimously condemned the killing, stating it was against “international law, established diplomatic norms and acceptable behavior amongst the comity of nations.”

Kani requested Dar to participate in the “extraordinary meeting” of the OIC being convened on this matter at the “foreign ministers level.”

The meeting has been requested by Iran and is likely to be held in the near future, the FO said.

Dar fully supported the call for an extraordinary meeting and confirmed that Pakistan would “actively participate” in the “important meeting.”