Iran threatens to take severe revenge for the assassination of Hamas boss Haniyeh in Tehran. The Lebanese extremist organization Hezbollah is also expected to avenge the death of its commander to Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Israel had killed the political leader of the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. to Ismail Haniyeh “with a short-range projectile”.
The projectile had a seven-kilogram warhead and was fired from outside Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
Haniyeh was killed in the Iranian capital Tehran on Wednesday. The attack happened hours after Hanieyh had attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president by Masoud Pezeshkian to the inauguration.
The American newspaper The New York Times reported, based on its own investigations, that Haniyeh would have been killed with an explosive that had been taken in advance to the guest house where the Hamas boss was staying.
Iran has arrested at least twenty people on suspicion of involvement in Haniyeh’s murder, reports The New York Times.
The assassination is feared to lead directly to a conflict between Israel and Iran.
Ismail Haniyeh’s funeral was held on Friday near Doha, Qatar.
The video below shows moods from the funeral.
Iran says it will retaliate
According to the press release, Iran intends to avenge the attack in a “harsh” way, which it will carry out “at an appropriate time, in an appropriate manner and in an appropriate place.”
In a statement, Iran characterized Haniyeh’s assassination as a “terrorist operation” and claimed that the United States supported Israel in the attack.
The Iranian ultra-conservative Kayhan newspaper wrote on Saturday that Iran’s revenge operation is expected to be “more diverse, more dispersed and impossible to counter”, according to the AFP news agency.
– This time, areas such as Tel Aviv, Haifa and strategic centers and especially the residences of officials involved in recent crimes are among the targets, Kayhan newspaper said in its opinion piece.
The Lebanese extremist organization Hezbollah also plans to take revenge on Israel in response to the Israeli attack on Beirut on Tuesday, in which a high-ranking Hezbollah commander was killed Fuad Shukr.
Iran estimated on Saturday that Hezbollah was planning to strike deeper into Israel, and that its strikes would no longer be limited to military targets. Hezbollah is an ally of Iran.
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The US is sending more troops
Israel has neither admitted nor denied carrying out the attack. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the United States had no prior knowledge of Hanieyh’s assassination and did not participate in the act.
The United States has estimated that Iran would carry out its retaliatory strike against Israel in the coming days.
The US Department of Defense, the Pentagon, announced on Friday that the country is sending more troops and equipment to the Middle East due to increased tensions in the region.
The United States is sending, among other things, the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and accompanying warships and fighter jets to the area. The country’s goal is to protect Israel and curb Iran’s desire for revenge.
Sweden announced on Saturday that it will temporarily close its Beirut embassy in Lebanon. Sweden estimates that the security situation in the region is very worrying and the conflict threatens to escalate.
Sources: AFP, Reuters, STT