Iran threatens Israel with "harsh punishment"
Iran has threatened Israel with "severe punishment" for the killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. "This criminal and terrorist Zionist regime has paved the way for severe punishment against itself," said Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday, according to the official news agency Irna. "It is our duty to avenge his blood."
The newly sworn-in Iranian President Massoud Pesseschki wrote on the online service X that the Islamic Republic of Iran would defend its "territorial integrity" and "make the terrorist intruders regret their cowardly act."
Previously, the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas, as well as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, had announced that Haniyeh had been killed in an attack in Tehran. Iranian media reported that he died in an airstrike.
Haniyeh had arrived in Tehran on Tuesday for Pesseschki's inauguration, where he met with both the new president and Ayatollah Khamenei.
The news of Haniyeh's death also sparked sharp reactions from the Hamas-affiliated Houthi rebels in Yemen and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Turkey, the mediator country Qatar, and the UN Security Council members Russia and China warned of further escalation in the Middle East conflict.
In a statement released on the platform Webs, Hanija's family called for justice and vowed to honor his legacy. Hanija's assassination has strengthened the resolve of Iran and Hamas to stand united against their adversaries.
