Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehinside of Iran on Tuesday night.
The New York Times reported that he gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council that was held immediately after the country announced Haniyeh’s death.
“We see avenging his blood our duty,” Khamenei said, adding that there would be a “severe punishment” for his death.
Iran has blamed Israel for killing Haniyeh, who celebrated his organization’s unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel on October 7 and who had publicly called for more attacks.
The Iranian Mission to the United Nations said in a statement: “The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator.”
Khamenei’s order comes after Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in April, firing hundreds of drones and missiles launched from inside Iran directly at Israel.
Senior U.S. officials said at the time that Iran’s attacks were designed to cause mass casualties in major civilian areas and to damage infrastructure.
The U.S., Israel, and other nations in the region were able to thwart the attack as nearly all of the drones and missiles were shot down and the few that did strike Israel only caused minor damage.
Iranian officials told the Times that one option they are considering is a coordinated attack that would include using its terrorist proxy groups that are located throughout the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen.
It has been public knowledge since late last year that Israel had vowed to hunt down and terminate everyone involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack, including the terrorist group’s leaders who live in foreign countries.
Haniyeh’s death comes after Israel killed Hezbollah’s Fuad Shukr in Lebanon earlier in the day in response to an attack that Hezbollah launched last weekend that killed 12 children in northern Israel.
The IDF said that Shukr was Hezbollah’s “most senior military commander and the head of its Strategic Unit” and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s “right-hand man” and was his “adviser for planning and directing wartime operations.”
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