TOKYO, August 20. /TASS/. Iran and Israel would like to avoid a major armed conflict but Tehran will still have to find a way to retaliate for the killing of Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh, Sachi Sakanashi, director of the Japanese Institute of Middle Eastern Economies (JIME) Center at the Institute of Energy Economics, told TASS.

"I don’t think Iran and Israel want a large-scale military confrontation. No one wants an escalation of tensions, which is why a search is underway on various tracks to find ways to avoid a major conflict," she pointed out. "However, the Hamas leader’s assassination in Tehran was a loss of face for Iran and it must retaliate. Still, it can use non-military ways to do that, for example presenting some conditions for a Gaza ceasefire or introducing sanctions on Israel," Sakanashi added.

"Chances are that Iran will refrain from a large-scale military strike as long as it can extract some victory from the situation," the expert said. She believes that Iran has a limited capacity to carry out a significant attack on Israel. The expert also points out that Tehran wants to avoid a direct military confrontation with the US, as it counters Washington in indirect ways, providing support to various anti-American forces in the region. "However, this strategy will collapse if an escalation of the conflict with Israel leads to military intervention by the US," the analyst noted.

On July 31, Hamas reported Haniyeh's death in an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had attended the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps blamed Israel for organizing the killing with US support. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Israel would face severe punishment for the Palestinian politician’s assassination.