Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been ‘assassinated’ in Tehran, Iran, according to a statement from Hamas on Wednesday. Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital, Tehran, for the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new President.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed Haniyeh’s death, referring to the incident as the ‘martyrdom’ of the Gaza-based group’s foremost leader.
The IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) statement read, “With condolences to the heroic nation of Palestine and the Islamic nation and combatants of the Resistant Front and the noble nation of Iran, this morning the residence of Mr. Dr. Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the political office of the Islamic Resistance of Hamas, was hit in Tehran, and following this incident, he and one of his bodyguards were martyred.”
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but analysts on Iranian state television quickly began accusing Israel. The Hamas statement also blamed Israel, stating that Haniyeh was killed in an ‘airstrike’ on his residence.
The incident comes in the wake of ongoing hostilities between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 7 of last year when Hamas carried out attacks in Israel, resulting in over 1,200 deaths and around 250 hostages.
In the subsequent retaliation, around 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 90,000 wounded, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. The longstanding enmity between Israel and Iran further complicates the situation.
