TEHRAN: A senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has said that Iran has readied a severe retaliation against Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran last week.
Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, a key political adviser, made the statement on Saturday via his X social media account, condemning both the recent killing and Israel’s ongoing military actions in Gaza.
“The only goal of the Israeli regime in killing the worshippers of the Al-Tabin school in Gaza and assassinating martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Iran is warmongering and leading ceasefire talks to failure,” Shamkhani stated.
He said that Iran has completed the necessary legal, diplomatic, and media processes to prepare for a retaliatory operation. “Preparations for a severe punishment of the regime, that only understands the language of force, have been made,” Shamkhani said. This statement underlines Tehran’s intent to take decisive action in response to aggression and provocation by Israel.
Shamkhani’s remarks come in the wake of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh who was killed on July 31 at his accommodation in Tehran. Haniyeh was in Iran as an official guest and had been granted diplomatic immunity. The assassination has significantly heightened tensions between Israel and Iran, with Iran vowing retribution.
The assassination of Haniyeh is part of a larger context of escalating violence in the region. Iran has previously warned of a harsh response, suggesting that it would be more severe than the mid-April drone and missile operation, which targeted only military and strategic sites in Israel.
