Iran rejects diplomatic efforts to give up its retaliation threat against Israel

Iran has reportedly rejected a diplomatic call to stand its threat down to retaliate against Israel for the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyen. Western diplomats had been trying to convince Iran to give up its threat against Israel, but Iran has reportedly stood its ground.

Haniyen had been killed in Tehran last month moments after he attended the inauguration ceremony of the new president of Iran, President Masoud Pezeshkian. The Islamic republic and its allies have blamed Israel for Haniyeh's killing on July 31. Meanwhile, US has warned, citing intelligence input, that Iran attack on Israel is imminent and could "happen as soon as this week," spokesperson John F Kirby announced.

The Middle East situation is highly volatile and the US has even deployed warships to bolster Israel defence. Apart from the assassination of Haniyen, Israel had killed by an airstrike Hezbollah's senior commander, Fuad Shukr, in Lebanon.

As tensions simmered, five world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, urged Iran to "stand down", issuing a joint statement supporting ceasefire efforts between Israel and Hamas. The US, UK, France, Germany and Italy are working to de-escalate tensions and prevent further violence. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are supposed to have even directly contacted Iran's newly elected President Masoud Pezeshkian to control this military escalation. However, the world leaders have made poor efforts to stop Israel from Gaza war.