Interim Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has emphasized that Iran has the right to deliver a “deterrent” response to Israel to ensure security in the region.

According to The Iran Project, in an X post, Bagheri Kani said he had made the remarks on Sunday during a telephone conversation with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, as Iran has vowed to retaliate against Israel for the assassination in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Hamas resistance group.

The top Iranian diplomat said that he had discussed the latest regional developments, including attempts by the child-killing Zionist regime to expand the scope of Gaza tensions through dangerous moves in Lebanon and Yemen, as well as the assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.

“I stressed Iran’s legal right to an appropriate and deterrent reaction to guarantee the stability and security of the region,” he added.

Bagheri Kani also noted that the two sides shared a common position on decisive condemnation of the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh and the need for international efforts to stop Israel’s aggression against the Gaza Strip and establish an immediate ceasefire there.

Wang supported Iran’s legitimate efforts to defend its sovereignty, security and national dignity, he said, adding that the Chinese foreign minister expressed his keenness to have close ties with the Islamic Republic in a bid to maintain regional peace and stability.

Wang, for his part, repeated Beijing’s denunciation of the Hamas chief’s assassination, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“China firmly opposes and strongly condemns the assassination, believing that it gravely violates the basic norms governing international relations, seriously infringes on Iran’s sovereignty security and dignity, directly undermines the Gaza ceasefire negotiation process, and shocks regional peace and stability,” he asserted.