In the heart of Tehran, thousands gathered clutching posters of Haniyeh and waving Palestinian flags at Tehran University for the ceremony and procession, according to an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent.<\/p>\n
Haniyeh\u2019s death was reported a day earlier by Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guards, who announced that he and his bodyguard were killed in a strike on their accommodation in Tehran at 2 a.m.\u00a0(10:30 p.m. GMT Wednesday). This incident followed Israel\u2019s targeting and killing of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, escalating fears of a wider regional conflict amid Israel\u2019s ongoing assault on Gaza.<\/p>\n
Israel has not commented on the Tehran strike. However, the attack has drawn significant attention, with Iran\u2019s state TV showing coffins draped in Palestinian flags during the ceremony attended by senior Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Gen. Hossein Salami.<\/p>\n
Haniyeh was visiting Tehran for Pezeshkian\u2019s inauguration on Tuesday. During the funeral, senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya vowed that Haniyeh\u2019s stance, \u201cWe will not recognize Israel,\u201d would remain an enduring slogan, pledging to continue pursuing Israel.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s conservative parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, declared Iran\u2019s intention to avenge Haniyeh, stating it is their \u201cduty to respond at the right time and in the right place,\u201d crowds shouted slogans like \u201cDeath to Israel, Death to America.\u201d<\/p>\n
Khamenei asserted that seeking revenge for Haniyeh\u2019s blood was a duty, as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran. President Pezeshkian also promised repercussions for Israel\u2019s \u201ccowardly and terrorist act.\u201d<\/p>\n
The international community has called for de-escalation and a focus on securing a cease-fire in Gaza, which Israel had previously obstructed, according to a Hamas official. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres labelled the strikes in Tehran and Beirut a \u201cdangerous escalation,\u201d emphasizing the need for efforts leading to a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas\u2019 October 7 incursion into southern Israel.<\/p>\n
Qatar\u2019s prime minister noted that Haniyeh\u2019s killing jeopardized the mediation process for a cease-fire. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on all parties in the Middle East to halt escalatory actions, emphasizing the urgent need for a cease-fire in Gaza. The twin killings of Haniyeh and Shukr have heightened regional tensions.<\/p>\n
As regional tensions increase, Iran has accused Israel of the attack, though Israel has not confirmed its involvement. Israel did, however, take responsibility for killing Shukr, connecting him to a recent rocket attack in the Golan Heights. The conflict is escalating, involving Iran-backed groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen. Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels have announced three days of mourning for Haniyeh and offered condolences to the Palestinian people and Hamas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran mourns the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, pledging to avenge his death. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh before his burial in Qatar and earlier threatened severe retaliation for his assassination.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":27022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[5756,216,4605,316,13307,15349],"class_list":["post-26991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iran","tag-gaza-conflict","tag-iran","tag-ismail-haniyeh","tag-israel","tag-middle-east-tensions","tag-tehran-strike"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/411"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}