Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, a media report said on Thursday.
The New York Times quoted three Iranian officials as saying: “Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has issued an order for Iran to strike Israel directly, in retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh.”
Khamenei issued the order at an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced that Haniyeh had been killed.
The report did not provide details about the exact time of this attack.
Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on Wednesday, the Palestinian group announced, blaming Israel for assassinating its political chief along with a bodyguard.
Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday.
Also on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned against a “dangerous escalation” of hostilities in the region.
kk/mud
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