Reactions to Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran

Iranian authorities are openly signaling their intent to punish Israel for its alleged assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, but there is still no indication of the nature of Iran’s response.

• July 31: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s official website released his statement: “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our own house … In doing so, it also prepared the ground for its own harsh punishment … We consider revenge our duty.”
• July 31: The official website of President Masoud Pezeshkian released his statement: “The Zionist regime will soon see the result of its cowardly terrorist deed.”
• July 31: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece Mashregh News released the organization’s official statement vowing revenge: “This crime of the Zionist regime will doubtlessly be met with the hard and painful answer of the powerful and great resistance front, in particular Islamic Iran.”
• July 31: Tabnak News, mouthpiece of former IRGC chief Mohsen Rezaei, interpreting Khamenei’s statement wrote: “The substance of Ayatollah Khamenei’s message resembles his message on the occasion of the Zionist regime’s attack against the Iranian Consulate in Damascus,” after which Iran launched a missile and drone attack against Israel.
• July 31: Nour News, Supreme National Security Council mouthpiece, answered the questions: “Why Haniyeh, and why in Tehran?”:
  • “By assassinating the Hamas leader in the heart of Tehran, the Zionists are trying to force the Cabinet in Iran to engage in an erratic reaction … Tel Aviv naively thinks the assassination can serve as the symbol of Iran’s intelligence and security failure. However, Israel has itself been defeated by intelligent plans of the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Nour News further claimed the assassination marked the Israeli government’s opposition to peace in Gaza and presented it as a result of the Israeli prime minister’s meeting with President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington.
• August 1: Major General Mohammad Bagheri, armed forces chief of staff, attending the funeral service of Haniyeh, said, as reported by IRGC mouthpiece Tasnim News: “How the axis of resistance will exact revenge is currently under investigation … Revenge will be exacted for certain. Different things must take place, and the Zionists will certainly be regretful.”

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