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TEHRAN, Iran, August 3 (AP): Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said a short-range projectile was behind the killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, accusing the United States of being behind the attack and placing the blame on Israel, Iranian state television reported Saturday.
The televised statement reiterated the call for retaliation, saying a rocket with a seven-kilogram (15-pound) warhead struck the unidentified residence of Hamas’ political leader in the capital, Tehran, on Wednesday and caused severe damage.
Haniyeh came to Iran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s newly elected President Massoud Pezeshkian.
“This operation was planned and carried out by the Zionist regime with the support of the United States,” the Guard statement said, adding: “The militant and terrorist Zionist regime will be severely punished at the appropriate time, place and ability.”
Israel has not confirmed or denied its role in Haniyeh’s killing, but it had previously vowed to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in protest of the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that sparked the Gaza war.
The assassination has raised fears of a wider regional conflict, with the possibility of a direct confrontation between Israel and Iran if Tehran retaliates.
In April, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel, with Israel claiming to have intercepted 99 percent of them. The attack came less than two weeks after Israel struck Syria, killing two Iranian generals, and was Iran’s first direct military attack on Israel, despite hostility between the two countries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Iran does not recognize Israel and supports anti-Israel militant groups including Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
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