Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has accused the US of greenlighting Israel’s plans to assassinate Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Khatib made the statement on Friday in a message of condolence for the late Haniyeh, who was killed in the Iranian capital, Tehran on Wednesday, where he was staying for the inauguration of the country’s new president.
In the statement, Khatib condemned Haniyeh’s assassination, calling it a “great loss” for the Islamic world.
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“The assassination of the martyr Ismail Haniyeh, which was carried out by the Zionist invaders with a green light from the United States, again demonstrated the cruelty of the Zionist regime,” he stated, as quoted by the IRNA news agency.
Haniyeh was assassinated with a remotely detonated bomb smuggled into the guesthouse at a guarded compound run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the NYT reported earlier, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The bomb reportedly exploded in Haniyeh’s room, killing the Hamas leader and one of his bodyguards, and partially collapsing an exterior wall of the building.
Tehran and Hamas have both accused West Jerusalem of carrying out the assassination, which the latter has neither confirmed nor denied. However, media reports claimed that Israeli intelligence officials briefed Washington and other Western governments on the details of the assassination in the immediate aftermath.
According to a White House readout, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed “new US military deployments” to help Israel defend against “all threats” in a call on Thursday. During the call, the US leader reaffirmed that his country remains committed to Israel’s security against Iran and its “proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.”
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Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, said on Friday that “the Israeli regime crossed an important red line” in killing Haniyeh, and pledged that Iran will “undoubtedly implement law and justice” in response.
“During the last 10 months, the Zionists have destroyed Gaza and now they have expanded their crimes to Beirut, Tehran, and Yemen… If the terrorist criminals are not stopped, they will seriously endanger regional and international peace and security,” he stated, as quoted by Mehr news agency.
Haniyeh was buried earlier on Friday at a cemetery in Lusail, north of the Qatari capital, Doha, in a ceremony attended by thousands of mourners. Russia has condemned the assassination of the Hamas leader, warning that it could worsen the already tense situation in the Middle East and undermine attempts to end the war in Gaza.