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Iranian president vows he will make Israel regret Haniyeh’s assassination

Massoud Pezeshkian emphasized that the bond between the peoples of Iran and Palestine would get stronger than before, and the support for the resistance would become firmer

DUBAI, July 31. /TASS/. Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said after the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political bureau of the radical Palestinian Hamas movement, in Tehran that his country would defend its sovereignty and make the "terrorist occupiers" regret their act. The Iranian leader wrote this on his official account on X that "the Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity and honor and will make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly action."

The Iranian president emphasized that the bond between the peoples of Iran and Palestine would get stronger than before, and the support for the resistance would become firmer. "Yesterday I raised his victorious hand and today I have to carry his coffin on my shoulders," he added, recalling yesterday's inauguration ceremony in which the Hamas leader and the Iranian president stood with their hands held up.

Earlier, Hamas said that the head of the movement's political bureau was killed by an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived for the presidential inauguration ceremony. The Al Hadath TV channel reported that Haniyeh lost his life to a direct missile strike. The Hamas political bureau’s deputy chief Musa Abu Marzook vowed that the assassination would not remain unretaliated.

Israel has not officially commented on the incident. According to The Jerusalem Post, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has prohibited all members of the cabinet from doing so.

Ismail Haniyeh had held various positions in the Hamas leadership since 2004. In 2007-2014 he led the one-party Palestinian government. Since 2017 he had led the movement's political bureau. He participated in negotiations on resolving the current conflict in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages and was involved in negotiations on Palestinian issues in previous years as well. In September 2022, he met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.