Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast on Tuesday condemned Israel for being behind the assassination of a Hamas commander in Dubai last month.

"This (assassination) is another sign of 'state terror' of the Zionist regime (Israel)," Mehman-Parast told reporters at his weekly news conference, "It is the violation of other countries' sovereignty."

"Iran is really surprised about the silence of international community and certain countries towards such a crime," he said, adding that the Islamic countries should be more alert to the danger posed by Israel.

On January 29, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas accused the Israeli security intelligence Mossad of killing its top military commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai and vowed to retaliate.

Al-Mabhouh, one of the founders of the Islamic movement's armed wing known as Izzedein al-Qassam Brigades, died in a hotel in Dubai on January 20 in suspect circumstances.

Dubai authorities said al-Mabhouh was electrocuted and then strangled to death, adding that Dubai is chasing the murderers who are believed to be Europeans, and is working with the International Criminal Police Organization in an attempt to bring them to justice.

Al-Mabhouh, one of the most important leaders of Hamas, has been wanted by Israel for decades, mainly for kidnapping two Israeli soldiers during the first Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2010)