Iran is set to carry out an order by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “harshly punish” Israel over the assassination of a Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deputy commander has said.
“The supreme leader’s orders regarding the harsh punishment of Israel and revenge for the blood of martyr Ismail Haniyeh are clear and explicit … and they will be implemented in the best possible way,” Ali Fadavi was quoted as saying by Iranian media on Friday.
Hamas political chief Haniyeh, 62, was killed in Iran’s capital, Tehran in July, after attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Hamas and Iran have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s killing, but the Israeli government has not confirmed or denied responsibility.
Since then, Tehran has promised to retaliate against Israel, which has a history of assassinating foes across the region, including in Iran.
Asked by reporters to respond to the Iranian remarks, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby, said the United States was ready to defend Israel with plenty of resources in the region.
“When we hear rhetoric like that we’ve got to take it seriously, and we do,” Kirby said on Friday.
Last week, the United States military also announced the deployment of additional resources to the Middle East, including an aircraft carrier, amid growing concerns about the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran.
But the US and other Western countries have also been calling for de-escalation. On Thursday, the US, Qatar and Egypt, issued a joint statement urging Israel and Hamas to resume talks to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said the US does not want a wider regional escalation so close to its elections in November.
“The fact that Washington – alongside other mediating countries – is pushing for Gaza ceasefire talks to happen … is a sign it wants to put as much pressure on Iran as possible and to delay a potential strike on Israel,” he said.
Bishara added, however, that the chances of Netanyahu agreeing to a ceasefire “has almost always been nil”.
According to Bishara, Hamas will want real guarantees that the war will not continue, reconstruction will be allowed to take place and Israeli soldiers will withdraw from the enclave.
It also remains unclear whether Iran would call off its response to Haniyeh’s assassination if a Gaza ceasefire is reached.
On Wednesday, Hamas chose Yahya Sinwar, its top official in Gaza, to succeed Haniyeh as the new leader of its political bureau.
Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing, has said that the Qassam Brigades endorses Sinwar and has “full readiness to carry out his decisions”.
In a short statement on Friday, Obeida said naming Sinwar as the group’s new political chief proves that Hamas “is still alive and strong”.
Reporting from Amman, Jordan, Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut noted that the potential resumption of ceasefire talks would mark the first round of negotiations with Sinwar acting as Hamas’s leader. It is unclear how Sinwar, who is wanted by Israel and remains at an unknown location in Gaza, will be able to convey messages to the mediators.
Salhut added that Netanyahu “is seen as a hardliner himself and has released a list of non-negotiables going into mediation”.
“So, it’s yet to be seen exactly what’s going to come of these discussions, but there is certainly a lot of tension throughout the wider region that countries like the United States are trying to quell saying that perhaps a ceasefire deal in Gaza prompt regional stability,” she said.
