UNITED NATIONS, August 8. /TASS/. Tehran is seeking both to ensure a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and punish Israel for killing Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian movement Hamas, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the UN said.

"We have pursued two priorities simultaneously: first, establishing a durable ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of the occupiers from this territory; second, punishing the aggressor for the assassination of Martyr Haniyeh, preventing the recurrence of the Israeli regime's terrorist aggressions, and making the Zionists regret embarking on such a trajectory," the mission noted in response to reports that Tehran could reconsider its decision to carry out a major attack on Israel if an agreement on a Gaza ceasefire was made.

Tensions in the Middle East flared up again after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and the killing of Fuad Shukr, a top commander of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement, in Beirut. Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah blamed the killings on Israel, vowing to take revenge. The Israeli authorities did not comment on Haniyeh’s death, while calling Shukr’s assassination a response to an attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams on the Golan Heights, which had killed 12 people. Hezbollah denies involvement in the incident.