TEHRAN, Iran 

Iran on Tuesday strongly condemned an Israeli attack that killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri in the Lebanese capital Beirut.  

Lebanon’s National News Agency earlier reported that Arouri was assassinated in an Israeli drone attack on a Hamas office in Beirut’s southern neighborhood.

Hamas confirmed that Arouri and two commanders of its military wing, the Qassam Brigades, were killed in the attack, which left at least six people dead.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said the attack once again proves the "foundation of the Zionist regime is based on terror and crime."

The Iranian spokesman condemned the Israeli attack as a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon,” and called on the UN Security Council to take an "immediate and effective response to these terrorist acts of the Zionist regime."

Arouri’s killing was the "result of helplessness and heavy and irreparable defeat (of Israel) against the Palestinian resistance groups,” he said.

Kanaani said the blood of slain Hamas leaders "will definitely create another boil in the veins of resistance and the motivation to fight against the Zionist occupation, not only in Palestine but also in the region."

Arouri was the most senior Hamas leader to have been killed by Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 22,185 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,035 others injured, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.​​​​​​​

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.