Iran’s Khamenei vows ‘harsh punishment’ for Israel after Haniyeh killing
Al JazeeraSupreme leader says avenging Haniyeh’s assassination is Tehran’s duty as Iran announces three days of mourning. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has promised “harsh punishment” for Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and made us bereaved,” Khamenei said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that “it also prepared the ground for a harsh punishment for itself.” He said it was Iran’s duty to avenge the assassination of Haniyeh, who was in the Iranian capital for the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the attack showed that the “Zionist gang of criminals, murderers and terrorists” had no regard for international rules. Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem said the “big question” is what Iran will do in response to the attack on its soil.