Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, orders direct strike on Israel over Hamas leader killing: Report

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has ordered Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials, briefed on the order, including two members of the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRG). 

Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on July 31 shortly after Iran announced that Haniyeh had been killed. 

Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of the assassination. Israel, which is at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has neither acknowledged nor denied killing Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. 

Khamenei, who has the last word on all state matters and is also the commander in chief of the armed forces, instructed military commanders from the IRG and the army to prepare plans for both an attack and a defence in case the war expands and Israel or the US strike Iran. 

In a public statement about Haniyeh’s death, Khamenei signalled that Iran would retaliate directly, saying, “we see avenging his blood our duty,” because it happened on the territory of the Islamic Republic.  

Iran and the regional forces it backs -- Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and multiple militias in Iraq -- form what they call the “axis of resistance”, NYT reported. Leaders of those groups were in Tehran for the inauguration of Pezeshkian on July 20. 

Haniyeh was assassinated at about 2 am (local time), after attending the ceremony and meeting with Khamenei. The killing shocked Iranian officials, who described it as crossing red lines. 

The embarrassment was compounded by Haniyeh’s prominence, the presence of other allies, and that he was attacked at a highly secure Revolutionary Guards guesthouse on a day of heightened security in the capital. 

According to the report, Tehran sees retaliation as necessary for both avenging the killing of Haniyeh but also as deterrence against Israel killing other powerful enemies, like Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, or General Ismail Qaani, the commander of the Quds Forces, who oversees the militant groups outside Iran. 

“Iran likely believes it has no choice other than retaliating to deter further Israeli attacks, defend its sovereignty, and preserve its credibility in the eyes of its regional partners,” said Ali Vaez, the Iran director of the International Crisis Group.