Iran is expected to directly attack Israel in response to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday morning, according to a New York Times report citing three sources.
The directive was issued at an emergency meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the report added.
Iran’s Supreme leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei had earlier in the day spoken of retribution in a post on X.
“Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge,” he wrote.
Iran had already directly attacked Israel in April. Ninety-nine percent of its 300 drones and missiles were shot out of the sky by a coalition of five armies belonging to the US, Israel, Jordan, and the United Kingdom.
Haniyeh killed in Tehran
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had earlier in the day said, “If Israel is attacked, we certainly will help defend Israel.”
US National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said, “We have and will maintain a level of readiness to preserve our national security interest in the region.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had on Wednesday night warned that there could be challenging days ahead and that Israel was prepared for any scenario as he spoke of Israel’s existential battle against Tehran.
Khamenei said to order direct strike on Israel after Haniyeh killed in Tehran
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, according to a report Wednesday, as he and other top Iranian officials vowed a response to the Palestinian terror chief’s assassination in Tehran.
Citing three unnamed Iranian officials briefed on the matter, including two Revolutionary Guard members, the New York Times reported that Khamenei gave the directive at an emergency meeting of the Supreme National Security Council held shortly after Haniyeh’s killing was announced Wednesday morning.
As part of the order, the officials said Khamenei told commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian Army to ready both attack and defense plans “in the event that the war expands and Israel or the United States strike Iran.”
Israel has not commented on the incident, which came amid its war with the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip and hours after an IDF strike in Beirut killed the top military commander of fellow Iran-backed Hezbollah. With Israel on high alert for a possible response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in an address to the nation on Wednesday evening that “challenging days are ahead,” but vowed the country was “ready for every scenario” and “will exact a very heavy price for any aggression against us.” He did not mention Haniyeh.
Khamenei had hosted Haniyeh, who was visiting Tehran for the swearing-in ceremony of new Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, for a meeting on Tuesday hours before he was killed.
“With this action, the criminal and terrorist Zionist regime prepared the ground for harsh punishment for itself, and we consider it our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Khamenei said in a statement on the assassination carried by state media.
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