Pakistan trusts Iran to probe assassination

FO awaits Tehran's findings into Haniyeh's murder before commenting

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan is confident that Iran will investigate and share findings of the probe into the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, according to the Foreign Office spokesperson on Thursday.

"Regarding the assassination of the chief of the political bureau of Hamas, Pakistan is looking for further announcements from the Iranian authorities," Mumtaz Zahra Baloch told reporters at the weekly news briefing.

"We have complete confidence that the Iranian authorities will investigate and share the findings of this unfortunate assassination. We will make further comments when these findings come out," she added.

The top Hamas leader was assassinated when his residence was targeted in the upscale area of Tehran. Haniyeh was in the Iranian capital for the oath taking ceremony of the new Iranian president.

Little details are available about the circumstances and the nature of the incident.

However, The New York Times claimed that the Hamas leader was killed by an explosive device planted some two months ago at the guesthouse run and protected by Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

Iran and Hamas blamed Israel and vowed to avenge the "cowardly act."

Pakistan also condemned the assassination of Hamas leader in strongest terms, calling for bringing to justice those who were behind the high-profile murder.

However, the Foreign Office statement triggered some controversy. In its initial reaction, the Foreign Office explicitly mentioned Israel by name. But the statement uploaded on the official website of the Foreign Office omitted the reference to Israel, raising many eyebrows.

When asked to comment on the matter, the spokesperson defended the move. "Our public statements correspond to the developments that take place internationally, especially in cases where the developments are taking place at fast pace and new information is coming in," she explained.

"That is a general statement that I wanted to make. Secondly, with regards to the development that took place yesterday in Iran, the killing of the Chief of political bureau of Hamas, I just made a comprehensive statement on the incident. We have condemned the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh," she added.

"We have extended our condolences to his family and to the people of Palestine in our statement. We also condemn Israel adventurism in the region and the acts that it is taking against its neighbours, including the attack against Lebanon on the 30th of June. We believe all these acts, including the genocide that is taking place in Gaza, are dangerous developments for this region. We also believe that Israel should be held to account for its war crimes in Gaza and occupied Palestinian territories."