Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday condemned recent Israeli airstrikes that killed several senior Iranian officials and called on other nations to hold the Jewish state accountable for its actions.
Israel said Wednesday it killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an airstrike. Khatib's death came a day after Israel said it killed Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and a key figure in the regime's leadership.
Israel also said Tuesday it killed Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Basij paramilitary force.
In a statement posted on X, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Israel's leadership of having "no regard for the repercussions of the normalization of its heinous methods of terror."
"What is unfolding before our eyes is not hypocrisy," Araghchi wrote. "Hypocrisy implies shame. This is something colder: a calculated moral collapse — where rules exist only for adversaries, and impunity is reserved for allies.
"As always, Israel leads the way in dragging its U.S. partner into an ever deeper moral and political abyss.
"Israel has no regard for the repercussions of the normalization of its heinous methods of terror. But the international community should not disregard that recklessness; as for every action there will inevitably and always be a reaction."
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, vowed revenge for the killings of Khatib, Larijani and Soleimani, writing Wednesday on X that those responsible will soon pay a price.
"Let the adversaries of Islam know that shedding the blood of such people at the foot of the mighty tree of the Islamic system will only make it stronger," Khamenei said. "And surely, every drop of blood has its due retribution that the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay."
Araghchi framed his criticism through a hypothetical scenario, suggesting that if Iran had openly threatened U.S. leaders it would have triggered immediate international backlash.
He used the example to accuse Western governments of applying double standards to Israel.
"Imagine an Iranian President coolly presenting a 'kill list' to a foreign ambassador: the U.S. President, Congressional leaders, top Generals," Araghchi wrote. "And then declaring, without hesitation: 'We will eliminate them, one by one.'
"Within hours, the world would erupt. Emergency UN Security Council sessions. Relentless media hysteria. Sanctions, threats, perhaps even war — wrapped neatly in the language of ‘international law' and defending the 'global order.'
"But when it comes to Israel, the usual rules of the game do not seem to apply. The very same guardians of 'law and order' fall silent, equivocate, or worse, supply the weapons and the cover."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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