Iran conducted funeral processions on Thursday amid calls for retaliation following the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a strike in Tehran, which Iran has blamed on Israel.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh before his burial in Qatar and had earlier promised a “harsh punishment” for his killing.
Thousands of mourners, carrying posters of Haniyeh and Palestinian flags, gathered at Tehran University for the ceremony before a procession through the city, as reported by an AFP correspondent.
Haniyeh’s death was confirmed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who stated he and his bodyguard were killed in a strike on their residence in Tehran at 2:00 am on Wednesday.
The strike occurred shortly after Israel targeted and killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut, escalating fears of a broader regional conflict amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
Israel has not commented on the Tehran strike.
Iranian state TV broadcasted the funeral, showing Haniyeh’s and his bodyguard’s coffins draped in Palestinian flags, with high-ranking Iranian officials including President Masoud Pezeshkian and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief General Hossein Salami in attendance.
Haniyeh had been visiting Tehran for Pezeshkian’s inauguration ceremony on Tuesday.
During the funeral, senior Hamas figure Khalil al-Hayya vowed that Haniyeh’s slogan, “We will not recognize Israel,” would endure and pledged continued resistance against Israel.
Iran’s conservative parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf asserted that Iran would execute the supreme leader’s order to avenge Haniyeh, stating, “It is our duty to respond at the right time and in the right place.”
The funeral procession featured coffins adorned with a pattern resembling a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf, carried on a flower-decorated truck through streets where cooling water mists sprayed the flag-waving crowds.
Khamenei, who has ultimate authority over Iran’s political decisions, declared that seeking revenge for Haniyeh’s blood was a duty as he was martyred on Iranian soil.
Iran has not yet released specific details about the strike’s location.
President Pezeshkian warned on Wednesday that Israel would face consequences for their “cowardly and terrorist act.”
The international community, however, called for de-escalation and emphasized the importance of securing a ceasefire in Gaza, which Haniyeh had accused Israel of obstructing, according to a Hamas official.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the strikes in Tehran and Beirut as a “dangerous escalation” and stressed the need for efforts leading to a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel, which ignited nearly ten months of conflict.
Qatar’s Prime Minister expressed concerns that Haniyeh’s killing jeopardized the mediation process. “How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side?” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani posted on social media.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all parties in the Middle East to cease escalatory actions and emphasized the imperative of a ceasefire in Gaza. White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby noted that the killings of Haniyeh and Shukr exacerbated regional tensions.
Israel has confirmed the killing of Shukr, blaming him for a recent rocket attack that killed 12 youths in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
The situation has heightened regional tensions, with Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen already involved in the Gaza conflict. Yemen’s Houthi rebels declared three days of mourning for Haniyeh and extended condolences to the Palestinian people and Hamas.
The UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting at Iran’s request to discuss the strike.
Hamas had been engaged in indirect negotiations with Israel for a truce and a hostage-prisoner exchange deal, facilitated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States. Analysts suggested that Haniyeh’s moderating influence within Hamas might alter the group’s dynamics after his death.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to dismantle Hamas in response to the October 7 attack that initiated the Gaza conflict.
The October 7 attack resulted in 1,197 deaths, primarily civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. Hamas also seized 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain captive in Gaza, with 39 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
The killing of Haniyeh has raised concerns among Israelis about the potential impact on hostage negotiations. Anat Noy, a resident of Haifa, remarked that Haniyeh’s death “was a mistake as it threatens the possibility of having a hostage deal.”
Israel’s retaliatory campaign against Hamas has resulted in over 39,445 deaths in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry.