Baghdad: Acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said that his country reserves the "right to legitimate response" to Israel after the assassination of the head of the political bureau of the Hamas movement, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran at the end of last month. Bagheri Kani added in a phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Aati today: The United States is "a partner in the crimes of the Zionist entity and cannot be a neutral mediator." The Egyptian Foreign Ministry stated in an official statement that the call came within the framework of following up on developments in the region and Egyptian efforts to calm the situation, and its intensive efforts aimed at containing the escalation witnessed by the region, and keenness on continuous communication with all active regional and international parties to reduce the tension witnessed in the region. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry indicated in its statement that Abdel Aati discussed during the phone call with his Iranian counterpart the lates t developments and events in the Middle East Source: National Iraqi News Agency