Addressing reporters at his weekly press conference on Monday, Kanaani condemned the assassination of Brigadier General Seyyed Razi Mousavi, who was serving as a military advisor in Syria, emphasizing that such acts will not benefit the Israeli regime in any way.
Mousavi was martyred in an Israeli airstrike in a Damascus neighborhood on December 27. He was a comrade of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, who himself was assassinated in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020.
The Iranian spokesman pointed out that Mousavi was on an advisory mission in Syria at the invitation of the Arab country, holding the Israeli regime’s officials accountable for the consequences of his assassination.
Iran reserves the legal right to respond to Israel’s move “at any time and place”, he asserted.
“According to the UN Charter, Iran has the right to respond to this criminal act” and has asked the Security Council to fulfill its responsibility vis-à-vis the maintenance of international peace and prevention of putting regional peace in jeopardy, he added.
Kanaani further noted that any attack on Iranian advisors who are in Syria legally is a clear evil act and a blatant violation of the Arab country’s territorial integrity.
Such acts would only help terrorists and pose a challenge to regional peace, he warned.
Elsewhere in his presser, the spokesman reaffirmed Iran’s resolve to pursue the US assassination of General Soleimani both inside the country and at international courts, stressing that “remarkable” measures have been carried out so far.
In any fair criminal court, General Soleimani’s assassination is definitely regarded as an international crime and its perpetrator must be brought to justice, he continued.
Lieutenant General Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and their companions were assassinated in a US drone strike authorized by then-president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3, 2020.
Both commanders were highly revered across the Middle East because of their key role in fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
In a reaction to American officials’ call for Iran to be wiped off the map, Kanaani said they either do not know the globe or do not know Iran’s weight.
The Iranian diplomat emphasized that such statements clearly show crazy thoughts among American officials
Deep devotion of some American representatives to the Israeli regime is the cause of such insane statements, Kanaani said.
On the Tehran-Cairo rapprochement, Kanaani stated there is a positive atmosphere in the bilateral relations, which are advancing in accordance with a roadmap drawn up by the two countries’ foreign ministers.
“We are interested in the step-by-step development of relations between two important Muslim countries within the framework of the defined roadmap,” he added.
Egypt severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in 1980 after it welcomed the deposed Pahlavi ruler of Iran and also recognized the apartheid Israeli regime.
