Russia warned Wednesday that the assassination in Iran of visiting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh threatened a full “global conflict” — as the terror group called it “a grave escalation” and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened “harsh punishment” for Israel.
“We resolutely condemn the attack that led to Mr. Haniyeh’s death,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said soon after Haniyeh was killed in an airstrike while in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
“We believe that such action is aimed against attempts to establish peace in the region, and could significantly destabilize the already tense situation,” he said.
Russian foreign ministry deputy spokesman Andrei Nastasin also said that the killing “raise[d] the stakes” in tensions already rife over Israel’s war on the terror group after the Oct. 7 slaughter of more than 1,200.
“The region is currently balancing on the brink of a global conflict,” Natasin said.
Russia slammed the United States for its “manic desire” to monopolize the process of political settlement in the region, blaming America for Israel’s latest attacks.
However, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was quick to distance the US from any involvement.
“First, this is something we were not aware of or involved in,” Blinken said in an interview with Channel News Asia, according to a transcript provided by the State Department.
“I’ve learned over many years never to speculate on the impact that an event has had on something else. So I can’t tell you what this means.”
Israel has yet to directly comment on Haniyeh’s death, which took place less than 24 hours after it launched an airstrike that killed the Hezbollah commander behind a deadly strike that killed 12 kids and teens.
Without directly referring to Haniyeh’s assassination, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday: “We don’t want war but we are preparing for all possibilities.”
Haniyeh, one of Hamas’ top leaders, was in Tehran attending the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president when he was killed, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced.
The Revolutionary Guards did not comment on how or who killed Haniyeh, but claimed Israel killed the leader “in a Zionist airstrike on his residence in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of Iran’s new president.”
“Hamas declares to the great Palestinian people and the people of the Arab and Islamic nations and all the free people of the world, brother leader Ismail Ismail Haniyeh a martyr,” the brief statement read.
“This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
Hamas’ military wing has vowed that Haniyeh’s death will have “major repercussions on the entire region.”
“The enemy made a miscalculation by expanding the circle of aggression and killing leaders of the resistance in various places and violating the sovereignty of states in the region,” they said in a statement.
Supreme Leader Khamenei said it was “Tehran’s duty” to avenge Haniyeh’s killing because it occurred in the Iranian capital.
“We consider his revenge as our duty,” Khamenei said — saying Israel had provided the grounds for “harsh punishment.”
Nabih Awada, a Lebanese political analyst close to the Iranian-backed “axis of resistance” and a former fighter with the Lebanese Communist Party, also warned that the latest attacks could lead to an “escalation that is different from what we have seen in the past.”
The strike in Beirut targeted a civilian residential area and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur was targeted “in his home rather than in a military headquarters,” he said.
“Therefore, this matter is considered a violation of all rules of engagement.”
Danny Citrinowicz, who served as head of the Iran branch for Israeli military intelligence and is now a fellow with the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, told the Wall Street Journal that Iran will retaliate because the assassination showed “they cannot protect one of the leaders of the axis coming for Pezeshkian’s inauguration.”
“We are on the verge of a large, large-scale escalation,” he warned.
With Post wires
