Tehran, March 11 -- Iran's Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani has alleged that the Israeli government has assassinated four senior Iranian diplomats in what he describes as a "heinous crime" in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the envoy said that on March 8, the Israeli government had carried out a targeted strike at the Ramada Hotel in Beirut, claiming the lives of the victims. Iravani noted that after the IDF had publicly threatened to target Iranian official representatives in Lebanon, the diplomats had been temporarily relocated to the hotel as a safety measure.

In his letter, the ambassador alleged that the assassination of the diplomats "while serving as official ...