Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Tehran, Iran says

 

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination. Iran's supreme leader vowed revenge against Israel. 

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders after the group considered a terrorist organization by many Western countries led an Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

The strike came just after Haniyeh had attended the inauguration of Iran's new president in Tehran, and only hours after Israel targeted a top commander in Iran's ally Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

The dramatic assassination of Hamas's top political leader threatened to reverberate throughout the region's intertwined conflicts. Most explosively, the strike in Tehran could push Iran and Israel into direct conflict if Iran retaliates.

"We consider his revenge as our duty," Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement on his official website. He said Israel had "prepared a harsh punishment for itself" by killing "a dear guest in our home."