The Iranian government issued a statement officially accusing Israel of assassinating senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Madbouh in Dubai, and said that this assassination is an act of terror.The official Iranian statement comes coherent with statements made by countries in the Gulf, the Police in Dubai and the Hamas movement, directly accused the Israeli Intelligence Agency, the Mossad, for the assassination.
Spokesperson of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, told the Iranian Press TV, that the assassination of al-Madbouh is an act of terror carried out by Israel.
He added that the very existence of Israel is based on terrorism.
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) secretary-general, Abdul-Rahim al-Attiya, called on the European Union to cooperate with the investigation carried out by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in order to bring the assassins to justice, so that the repetition of similar attacks could be prevented.
Israeli TV, Channel 10, reported that the authorities in Syria apprehended one of the associates of al-Madbouh on suspicions of involvement in the assassination.
The suspect was identified by Mohammad Nasser; he was reportedly arrested along with other Hamas men reportedly involved in the assassination.
Nasser, according to the report, had detailed information on the whereabouts of al-Madbouh. He and al-Madbouh are believed to have taken part in the abduction and the killing of two Israelis in the late 1980s.
On Tuesday, the UAE said that it identified four more persons, holders of European passports, suspected of involvement in the assassination of al-Madbouh last month.
Two of the suspects are British and two others are Irish. With the new arrests, the number arrested British passport holders arrives to eight in addition to five Irish passport holders.
Israel said that six of the British suspects used identities of British citizens living in Israel who claimed that their identities were stolen.
Dubai Police released the names and pictures of 11 persons who used forged foreign passports to enter the country. The passports are British, French, Irish and German.
Foreign Ministers of the European Union protested against the use of forged EU passports to assassinate Al Madbouh, but did not blame Israel for the operation.
Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, said that Arab countries always blame Israel for anything that happens in the Middle East, and added that there are many conflicts in the region that could have led to the assassination.
