Iran says Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed by ‘short-range projectile’; blames Israel & US

Iran on Saturday said that Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation.

In a statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused Israel of being behind the incident. It also accused the United States of supporting Israel.

Ismail Haniyeh was killed on July 31 after he had attended the swearing-in of the new Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran.

The 62-year-old was the head of the political bureau of Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007. He lived in Qatar.

Haniyeh was the second leader of an Iran-linked group to be killed since July 30, after top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli air strike in Beirut.

The killings are the latest of several major incidents that have inflamed regional tensions during the Gaza war, which has drawn in Iran-backed militant groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.

In Saturday’s statement, the Guards reiterated that Haniyeh’s killing would be avenged.

They also warned that Israel would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner”.

Meanwhile, the United States said that it would deploy additional fighter jets and Navy warships to the Middle East, following threats from Iran and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah, reported Reuters.

In a statement, the Pentagon said that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has approved sending additional Navy cruisers and destroyers – which can shoot down ballistic missiles – to the Middle East and Europe.

“Austin has ordered adjustments to U.S. military posture designed to improve U.S. force protection, to increase support for the defense of Israel, and to ensure the United States is prepared to respond to various contingencies,” the Pentagon said in a statement.