Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran after attending the inauguration of the country’s new president, Iran, and the militant group said early Wednesday.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination but suspicion quickly fell on Israel, which has vowed to kill Haniyeh and other leaders of Hamas over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Haniyeh’s assassination, which took place hours after he was sworn in.
Pezeshkian’s post on X said his country will defend its territorial integrity and make those responsible regret their actions.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also responded to Haniyeh’s assassination and said that Iran considers revenge as its duty, state-run news agency IRNA reported in a post on X.
“With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself, and we consider it our duty to take his revenge,” Khamenei said.
Before attending President Pezeshkian’s swearing-in on Tuesday, Haniyeh met Khamenei.
Hamas has blamed Israel, which has declined to comment.
Hamas allies issue condolences for Haniyeh’s death
Hamas’ regional allies issued condolences and statements of defiance Wednesday in response to the killing of the group’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in an alleged Israeli strike in Iran.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah called Haniyeh a “great and honest leader and dear brother” and extended condolences to his family “who have offered dozens of martyrs from among their men and women on the path to liberating Jerusalem and Palestine.”
Yemen’s Houthi rebels called Haniyeh’s assassination a “major escalation and a greater transgression, and a blatant violation of all international laws, norms and covenants” and said the group is “determined to stand by Hamas and all resistance factions in confronting the American-backed Zionist rampage.”
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group that has been fighting alongside Hamas in Gaza, said that the “sinful assassination” will “not deter our people from continuing the resistance to put an end to the Zionist criminality that has crossed all limits.”
It remains unclear how Hamas’ allies in the region will respond to the killing, as well as to a separate Israeli strike in Lebanon on Tuesday that appears to have killed a top Hezbollah commander.
