Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in a phone conversation with his French counterpart Stéphane Séjourné on Friday.

Emphasizing the historical record of relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and France, Araghchi expressed Tehran’s readiness to strengthen constructive dialogues in order to expand cooperation between the two states.

The top Iranian diplomat said that the criminal action of the Zionist occupation regime in the assassination of the political leader of Hamas in Tehran was an unforgivable violation of Iran’s security and sovereignty, stressing Tehran’s right to punish Israel.

The French foreign minister, for his part, referred to the ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

He also stressed the necessity of dialogue with all parties with the aim of reducing tension and achieving peace.

Ismail Haniyeh and one of his bodyguards were martyred after their residence was targeted in Tehran on July 31, according to a statement released by the IRGC.

Issuing a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh was “designed and implemented by the Zionist regime and supported by the criminal government of America.”

Reacting to the Israeli act of terror, high-ranking Iranian officials vowed to give a proper response to the Zionist regime, with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei saying, that by assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the Israeli regime has prepared the ground for harsh punishment for itself.

Earlier in August, the political adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani took to X social media platform, formerly Twitter, to write that preparations have been made to severely punish a regime that only understands the language of force.

The sole goal of the Israeli regime in killing the worshipers of the Al-Tabin school in Gaza and assassinating the martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Iran is to seek war and make the ceasefire negotiations fail, Shamkhani wrote.

Preparations for severe punishment of the Israeli regime have been made following the legal, diplomatic, and media processes, he added.

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