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By Tom O'Connor and Barney Henderson
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Iranian officials have vowed to exact revenge against Israel over the killing of Hamas' political chief in the heart of the Islamic Republic.
"The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator," the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said in a statement shared with Newsweek and published on X, formerly Twitter.
The comments followed statements from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in which he asserted that Israel had "prepared a harsh punishment for itself" over its alleged role in a predawn raid early Wednesday that killed Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh hours after he attended the swearing in ceremony of newly elected Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
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Khamenei asserted in a statement published on his website that "we consider his revenge as a duty, calling Haniyeh "a dear guest in our home." He also posted on X, blaming "the criminal, terrorist Zionist regime" for the killing of the top Hamas official, who he said "was willing to sacrifice his honorable life in this dignified battle for many years."
Later, in a letter shared with Newsweek, Iranian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani informed the U.N. Security Council that the Islamic Republic "will not hesitate to exercise its inherent right to self-defense, as enshrined in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter to respond decisively and promptly."
Contacted by Newsweek for comment regarding blame over Haniyeh's death, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said, "We do not comment on those reports."
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Haniyeh's death was first announced by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a statement that offered few details and said that the attack was under investigation, without attributing blame.
Hamas, however, immediately held Israel responsible for what it called "a treacherous Zionist raid" conducted in Tehran amid the ongoing war between the group and the IDF in the Gaza Strip.
The IRGC later echoed Khamenei's calls for vengeance in a follow-up statement.
"Undoubtedly, this crime committed by the Zionist regime will be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful and vast resistance front, particularly from Islamic Iran," the IRGC statement said.
In April, Iran and allied Axis of Resistance factions conducted a coordinated missile and drone attack against Israel in response to the killing of senior Iranian military officials in an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian consular building in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Israel reportedly conducted an attack against an air base in the Iranian city of Isfahan, marking the first open exchange of strikes between the two archfoes.
Hamas' military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, also broadcast its intentions to strike back over Haniyeh's death on Wednesday, claiming two shootings in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba and the Ibrahimi Mosque in the nearby city of Hebron.
"As we confirm our brigades' carrying out the two operations this morning," the Al-Qassam Brigades said, "we stress that what happened is the first fruits of the rapid response to the cowardly assassination operation that targeted our great national leader, the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, and that the Hebron Governorate will be at the forefront of implementing qualitative operations in the coming days, God willing."
Other armed Palestinian factions allied with Hamas and groups aligned with the Iran-backed Axis of Resistance that counts militias in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen have also issued calls for retaliation.
Little remains known about the exact circumstances surrounding the killing, which came amid a series of escalations that threaten to further destabilize a region already in the throes of crisis over the ongoing war in Gaza and intensive cross-border clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.
Just hours earlier, the IDF claimed the killing of a top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in an airstrike in the Lebanese capital of Beirut in response to an attack blamed on the Lebanese movement that Israeli officials said led to the deaths of 12 children and teenagers in a majority-Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Israel-occupied Golan Heights. Hezbollah denied responsibility for the attack and has promised to retaliate amid the killing of one of its most senior military leaders.
In commenting on Shukr's killing on Monday, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the attack demonstrated that "there is no place out of reach for our forces."
While no group immediately claimed responsibility for Haniyeh's killing, Israeli officials have repeatedly vowed to target Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders following the group's attack October 7 attack that Israeli authorities estimate resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 people and the capture of about 250 hostages, approximately half of whom are believed to still be in Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Hamas-led Gaza has estimated that more than 39,400 people have been killed in the ensuing war.
Blame and outrage among Haniyeh's supporters and allies have also been directed toward the U.S., which has provided extensive support to Israel throughout the war in Gaza. The White House had earlier said Israel had the right to pursue its self-defense in the wake of Shukr's assassination in Beirut.
Iravani, the Iranian envoy to the U.N., had previously demanded "immediate action" against Israel over Shukr's killing in a letter sent to U.N. leadership. In his latest letter sent Wednesday in response to Haniyeh's slaying, he argued that "the responsibility of the United States, as the strategic ally and main supporter of the Israeli regime in the region, cannot be overlooked in this horrific crime."
"This act could not have occurred without the authorization and intelligence support of the U.S," Iravani said. "The continuation of Israel's aggressions threatens peace and stability in the region. The international community, particularly the United Nations Security Council, cannot remain indifferent to such heinous crimes and must take decisive action to address these violations and hold the perpetrators accountable."
Responding to questions regarding Haniyeh's killing during a visit to Singapore on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied any U.S. role in the attack.
"This is something we were not aware of or involved in," Blinken said. "It's very hard to speculate."
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Haniyeh, 62, joined Hamas during the group's formation in the 1980s, during the First Intifada uprising against Israel. He was appointed head of the group's operations in Gaza in 2014 and later head of its political activities in 2017, working largely in exile from the group's offices in the Qatar capital of Doha.
His successor in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is credited with orchestrating the October 7 attack that ignited the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Michael Milshtein, a Hamas expert at Tel Aviv University, told The Associated Press that said Haniyeh had a commanding role in the group's foreign policy and diplomacy, but was less involved in military affairs.
"He was responsible for propaganda, for diplomatic relations, but he was not very powerful," said Milshtein, a former military intelligence officer. "From time to time, Sinwar even laughed and joked: 'He's the more moderate, sophisticated leader, but he doesn't understand anything about warfare.'"
The assassination of Haniyeh occurs at a critical juncture, as the Biden administration is actively mediating efforts for a temporary ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel.
The assassination of Haniyeh could lead to Hamas pulling out of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations. Asked about the potential impact of the attack on the talks, Blinken told reporters, "I can't tell you what this means."
"I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains," Blinken said. "And we will continue to labor at that for as long as it takes to get there. It's vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It's vitally important to getting the hostages home – including a number of Americans. It's vitally important to hopefully putting things on a better path for more enduring peace, for more enduring security."
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on a trip to Manila that he had no "additional information to provide" when asked about Haniyeh's assassination. But he expressed hope for a diplomatic solution on the Israeli-Lebanon border.
"I don't think that war is inevitable," he said. "I maintain that. I think there's always room and opportunity for diplomacy, and I'd like to see parties pursue those opportunities."
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