2024-08-01 14:18:20
Khamenei gave the order during an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced Haniyeh’s killing, three Iranian officials, including two members of the Revolutionary Guard, told the newspaper. They asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Iran and Hamas blamed Israel for the killing. Israel, which is at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has neither admitted nor denied killing I. Haniyeh, who had come to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president. Israel has long fought its enemies abroad, including Iran’s nuclear scientists and military commanders.
During the nearly 10-month war in Gaza, Iran has tried to maintain a balance by putting pressure on Israel, sharply increasing attacks by its allies and proxies in the region, but avoiding direct war between the two sides.
In April, Iran launched its biggest and most overt attack on Israel in decades of hostility, launching hundreds of rockets and drones in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its embassy compound that killed several Iranian military commanders in Damascus, Syria. But even this show of force was premeditated, almost all of the weapons were shot down by Israel and its allies, and the damage was minimal.
It is now unclear how decisively Iran will respond and whether it will recalibrate its offensive to avoid escalation. Iran’s military commanders are considering another combined drone and missile attack on military targets near Tel Aviv and Haifa, but will try to avoid civilian targets, Iranian officials said. One option being considered, they said, is a coordinated attack from Iran and other fronts where it has allied forces, including Yemen, Syria and Iraq, to maximize impact.
Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state and is the supreme commander of the armed forces, has ordered commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the army to prepare offensive and defensive plans in case the war escalates and Israel or the United States strike Iran, the officials said.
In his public statement on Haniyeh’s death, Khamenei hinted that Iran would retaliate directly, saying it was “our duty to avenge his blood” because it happened on the territory of the Islamic Republic. He said Israel had set the stage for a “severe punishment”.
Statements by other Iranian officials, including new President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Foreign Ministry, the Guard and Iran’s mission to the United Nations, have also openly said that Iran will retaliate against Israel and that it has the right to defend itself against violations of its sovereignty.
Iran and the regional forces it supports – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and a host of militias in Iraq – form the so-called “axis of resistance”. The leaders of these groups arrived in Tehran on Tuesday, where M. Pezeshkian’s inauguration took place. I.Haniyeh was killed around 2 am. night local time, after attending the ceremony and meeting with A. Khamenei.
The killing shocked Iranian officials, who described it as crossing red lines.
It was a humiliating security breach for a country eager to project its strength but long frustrated by its inability to prevent Israel from carrying out covert operations on its soil, according to The New York Times. Adding to the embarrassment was the fact that Haniyeh was very important, other allies were involved, and that he was attacked at a heavily guarded Revolutionary Guard guest house on a day when security was heightened in the capital.
Many Iranian government supporters and officials were outraged at the failure to prevent the assassination, saying only a few high-ranking security officials could have known where Haniyeh was staying. Some wrote on social media that Iran should first come clean and ensure the safety of its senior officials.
“Ensure the safety of the Supreme Leader first before retaliating,” Alirez Katebi Jahromi, a journalist and supporter of the Iranian government, wrote on the X social network account.
Iranian officials view Haniyeh’s killing not only as an opportunistic killing by Israel of one of its enemies, but also as an affront to their security apparatus that shows that any Iranian citizen, of any rank, can be targeted and killed.
Analysts said Iran believed retaliation was necessary not only to avenge Haniyeh’s killing, but also to deter Israel from other powerful adversaries such as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah or Quds Force commander General Ismail Qaani, who oversees killing militant groups outside Iran.
“Iran likely feels it has no choice but to retaliate to deter further Israeli attacks, defend its sovereignty and preserve its credibility in the eyes of its regional partners,” Ali Vaez, Iran director of the International Crisis Group, told The New York Times .
2024-08-01 14:18:20