Acting FM says Iran's response to Hamas leader's killing will happen at right time

DUBAI - Iran's response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will take place "at the right time and in the appropriate shape", Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said in a statement on Wednesday.

Iran and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accuse Israel of carrying out Haniyeh's assassination on July 31. Israel has not claimed or denied responsibility.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Iranian counterpart Massoud Pezeshkian in a phone call on Wednesday that he must do everything in his power to avoid escalation in the region and that the cycle of retaliation must stop, the Elysee palace said in a statement.

Macron said Iran has to call on the "destabilising players it supports" to exercise the utmost restraint to avoid a conflagration.