Supreme Leader Says Avenging Haniyeh’s Assassination Is Tehran’s Duty as Iran Announces Three Days of Mourning
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed “severe punishment” for Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and brought us to mourning,” Khamenei said in a statement Wednesday, adding that it “also prepared the ground for severe punishment for itself.”
He said it was Iran’s duty to avenge the assassination of Haniyeh, who was in the Iranian capital for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian.
“We consider it our duty to avenge his blood in this bitter and difficult incident that occurred on the territory of the Islamic Republic,” Khamenei said, while offering his condolences to Haniyeh’s family and the Palestinian group.
Iran has announced three days of public mourning across the country for Haniyeh.
A funeral ceremony will be held in Iran on Thursday, after which Haniyeh’s body will be transferred to Doha, Qatar, Hamas said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
He will be buried in the Qatari capital on Friday, the group announced.
Israel has not yet commented on the attack but has already vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders after the October 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,197 people and sparked Israel’s ongoing deadly war on Gaza.
Israeli media reported that ministers and officials had been asked not to comment on Haniyeh’s killing.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 39,400 people have since been killed in Israel’s intense bombardment of the enclave.
Pezeshkian promised that his country would “defend its territory” and make “the attackers regret their cowardly act.”
Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said the attack demonstrated that the “Zionist gang of criminals, murderers and terrorists” had no respect for international rules.
“Without a doubt, this crime of the Zionist regime will face a harsh and painful response from the powerful and immense resistance front, especially Islamic Iran,” the statement read.
Tel Aviv Tribune’s Ali Hashem said from Beirut, Lebanon, that the “big question” was what Iran would do in response to the attack on its soil.
“The repercussions will be huge for the entire region. This could mean an Iranian attack on Israel. I can’t imagine what will happen next,” Hashem said.
In April, an Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus killed 13 people, including an IRGC commander. Iran retaliated by launching a salvo of missiles and drones into Israeli territory.
