RIYADH
\nIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Qatar on Wednesday for bilateral talks and a summit at which he said he hopes to enlist Asian countries\u2019 help in preventing what he called \u201cIsraeli crimes\u201d in the Middle East.
\nStarting his first trip to Qatar as president, Pezeshkian criticised Israel over the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Iran blames Israel for Haniyeh\u2019s assassination on July 31. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for his death.
\nSince then, Israel has assassinated the leader of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon, Hassan Nasrallah, and sent troops into southern Lebanon on what it called a limited operation. Iran responded by firing a barrage of missiles at Israel on Tuesday.
\n\u201cWe also want security and peace. It was Israel that assassinated Haniyeh in Tehran,\u201d Pezeshkian was quoted saying on his arrival in Qatar by Iran\u2019s Student News Network.
\n\u201cEuropeans and the U.S. said if we do not act, there will be a peace in Gaza in one week. We waited for them to have peace but they increased their killing\u201d.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country faces conflicts against both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, has said Israel will respond to Iran\u2019s missile attack.
\n\u201cIf the Zionist regime (Israel) does not stop its crimes, it will face harsher reactions,\u201d Iranian state media quoted Pezeshkian as saying as he left for Qatar.
\nPezeshkian told state television that the first goal in Doha was to discuss bilateral ties and sign agreements with the Qatari government. He will also attend a summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue.
\n\u201cThe second goal is to discuss how Asian countries can prevent Israeli crimes in the region…and prevent enemies from causing uproar in the Middle East,\u201d Pezeshkian said.
\nQatar has been one of the mediators working on a ceasefire deal in Gaza, although talks have stalled.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
RIYADH Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian arrived in Qatar on Wednesday for bilateral talks and a summit at which he said he hopes to enlist Asian countries\u2019 help in preventing what he called \u201cIsraeli crimes\u201d in the Middle East. Starting his first trip to Qatar as president, Pezeshkian criticised Israel over the killing of Hamas leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":435203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n