Funeral processions for assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh began in Tehran on Thursday morning amid chants of “death to Israel” and signs calling for Israel’s destruction. Many Hezbollah and Palestinian flags were being waved by the crowd, along with posters of Haniyeh.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led a prayer session over the coffins of Haniyeh and his bodyguard at Tehran University with representatives of the Palestinian terror group. Iran’s newly inaugurated President Masoud Pezeshkinian stood alongside Khamenei.
🔴 Imam Khamenei led funeral prayer for Martyr Ismail #Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of #Hamas & his companion who were assassinated by the Zionist regime. The prayer was performed at Tehran University on Thursday, August 1, 2024. pic.twitter.com/yXhCGpUlWF
— Khamenei Media (@Khamenei_m) August 1, 2024
State television then showed the coffins placed in a truck and moving toward Azadi Square, with mourners throwing flowers at them.
The two men were killed in the north of the capital early Wednesday, reportedly by a missile. Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the strike. Jerusalem has not claimed responsibility.
Calls for revenge were heard at the funeral ceremony, with senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya saying that Haniyeh’s slogan to never recognize Israel will remain “immortal” and vowing to “pursue Israel until it is uprooted from the land of Palestine.”
The public funeral ceremony begins for Martyr Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital Tehran. pic.twitter.com/Tmz7CokqU4
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) August 1, 2024
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said that “it is our duty to react in the right place and at the right time,” warning that Israel will pay a “heavy price” for the assassination, according to Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel following the assassination. Tehran views it as a duty to avenge Haniyeh‘s death, according to the report.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our beloved guest inside our house and made us mournful, but it paved the way for a harsh punishment to be imposed on it,” he said according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
Pezeshkian and Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani also signaled that Tehran would retaliate for the assassination on their soil.
After the Tehran funeral, Haniyeh’s body will be taken to Doha, Qatar for burial on Friday, according to a Hamas statement.
