TEL AVIV, August 2. /TASS/. Iran’s readiness to raise the stakes in the standoff with Israel has grown following the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, Brigadier General (retired) Yossi Kuperwasser, from Misgav Institute for National Security and former head of the Research Division in Israeli military intelligence, told the Jerusalem Post.

"The Iranian willingness to take risks, at the price of an escalation, is higher than before. Not only because of the latest events but because of the feeling of increased confidence and identification of Israeli weakness and therefore things that in the past seemed impossible have now become more and more of an option," he said.

"The current tensions should not divert Israel’s attention from its main effort to subdue Hamas and create the conditions to release the hostages," Kuperwasser summarized. "Afterward, Hezbollah and Iran should be taken care of," he added, noting that "the coming hours and days will determine whether Israel can operate in that order or not."

"Iran has a wide range of options for their retaliation. All the sides understand that the chances of this conflict to deteriorate into a full-scale regional war are not small, despite everyone saying they have no interest in this," he concluded.

On July 31, 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.

A source in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told TASS that the Israeli military is not commenting on Haniyeh's death. The Jerusalem Post said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had advised its ministers not to comment on this issue. The newspaper added that similar recommendations were issued for members of parliament.

Iranian Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani in a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted Tehran’s legitimate right to retaliate for the assassination.