Hamas: Iran to take revenge on Israel over Haniyeh assassination ‘at substantial level’
The representative of Hamas in Tehran says Iran’s response to Israel’s assassination of the head of political bureau of the Palestinian resistance group will be “definite and decisive” and will be carried out at “a substantial level.”
Khaled Qaddoumi made the remarks in an exclusive interview with the Arabic service of Tasnim news agency on Monday, stressing that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has assured Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau in Gaza, that nothing other than a decisive action could be considered a retaliation for the heartrending target killing of Ismail Haniyeh.
He added that Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf has also underlined during meetings with Hamas officials over the past few days that Iran’s response will be definite, decisive and different in kind and manner.
“Experience has proven that the Zionist regime will press ahead with its crimes in case it does not receive an answer… The most important reason why a criminal like [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is forging ahead with its genocide is the absence of diplomatic pressures from the United States. He does not feel such strains,” Qaddoumi said.
The senior Hamas official emphasized that Iran will definitely respond to the Israeli assassination of Haniyeh at a substantial level, and expressed regret that the occupying Tel Aviv regime is not under pressure from any other party, either in West Asia or anywhere else.
It is very difficult to comment on the scope of the response, Qaddoumi stated, but noted that Iran’s rightful response to Haniyeh’s assassination is unquestionable.
The Iranian president says international rules and regulations assert Tehran’s right to respond to Israel’s assassination of Haniyeh in Tehran.
Iran’s retaliation is an issue that even Iranians themselves have underscored its necessity, he said, adding that Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and all Iranian authorities have laid particular emphasis on it.
Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly-elected President Pezeshkian, alongside other Axis of Resistance leaders, was martyred in an attack early on July 31.
Ayatollah Khamenei has warned the Israeli regime of a “harsh response” for Haniyeh’s assassination, calling it the Islamic Republic’s duty to avenge the Palestinian resistance leader’s blood.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.
