NEW YORK, July 31. /TASS/. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a strike on Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, says The New York Times, citing sources.

According to the newspaper, the order was issued Wednesday morning.

It also noted that Khamenei gave instructions "to prepare plans for both an attack and a defense in the event that the war expands and Israel or the United States strike Iran."

Earlier, the Palestinian movement Hamas said that Haniyeh had been killed in an Israeli strike targeting the residence he was staying at in Tehran, where he had arrived for the inauguration of the country's President-elect, Masoud Pezeshkian. The Al Hadath TV channel reported that Haniyeh was killed in a direct missile strike. Al Mayadeen said, citing a source, that the missile was launched "from another country, not "from the territory of Iran." Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Mousa Abu Marzook has warned that Haniyeh’s assassination will not go unanswered.