MOSCOW, July 31. /TASS/. The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the Hamas political bureau, inside Iran has shown that the West seeks escalation in the region, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told TASS.

"Western countries claim that they are calling for talks and an end to the war in Gaza. However, this terrorist act proves that they have no will to stop the regime’s attacks against the defenseless Palestinian people and their willingness to press ahead with the Gaza war and to increase escalation in the region," he said.

Earlier, Hamas said that Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike targeting the place he was staying in Tehran, where he attended the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Al Hadath broadcaster reported that Haniyeh was killed when a missile struck the building. The Al Mayadeen television channel said, citing a source, that the missile was launched "from another country, not "from the territory of Iran." Mousa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, assured that this assassination would not go unpunished.