MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Lebanon does not know when Iran will respond to Israel on the assassination of the head of Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, but Beirut does not want a full-scale war in the region, Ambassador to Moscow Chawki Bou Nassar told TASS in an interview.

"Of course, we cannot say whether Iran will respond or not because the decision is made in Tehran. But what we hear in the media is that Iran promises to retaliate this Israeli aggression," he said. "What we see and what we hope for is that the conflict does not escalate into a full-blown, full-scale regional war, because that would serve no one's interests," he emphasized.

"In response to the question about the [expected] Iranian strike [in response] to Israeli aggression, it should be mentioned that Israel eliminated Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Hamas political bureau in Tehran. And this is a violation of Iran's sovereignty and values that are honored in Iran, because Ismail Haniyeh was a guest in Tehran, he came to the inauguration ceremony of the new president," Chawki Bou Nassar added.

At the same time, the ambassador emphasized that the danger of the conflict spreading, "its escalation into a large-scale war," is ever-present. According to the diplomat, "the key to stability is the cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip." "[And that] is in the hands of the Israeli government, because if they respect the UN resolution that calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, that will be the first step towards peace and stability in the region," he concluded.

The Palestinian Hamas movement announced on July 31 that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, was killed in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Iran's elite military units) said that Haniyeh was killed by a short-range projectile with a warhead weighing about seven kilograms, adding that his assassination was organized by Israel with US support. Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned that Israel will be severely punished for the killing of the Palestinian politician.