Iran held funeral parades for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday (Haniyeh was killed in a “treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran”). The procession echoed with the calls for revenge at “the right time and in the right place” Parami News said.
“It is our duty to respond at the right time and in the right place,” Iranian parliamentarian Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said as he spoke, while crowds chanted “Death to Israel, death to America!”
The cypress-lined streets were filled with black-and-white adorned burial caskets that looked like Palestinian keffiyeh scarves mounted on a flower-trimmed truck.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over Haniyeh before the slain leader’s burial in Qatar and had earlier promised “a severe punishment” following his killing.
“Our duty is to seek vengeance for his blood”
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Haniyeh’s death stated that “our duty was to seek vengeance for his life because he died a martyr within Iran’s territory”.
Iran blamed Israel for the attack but there has been no Israeli comment concerning Haniyeh’s death.
However, Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that his country had delivered “crushing blows” to its enemies in recent days.
“These are challenging days. There are threats from Beirut. We are ready for any scenario. We are prepared,” he said adding that forceful response of Israel would follow any assault. “They will settle accounts with anyone who harms us, anyone who slaughters our children, anyone who murders our people or people who damage the nation,” Parami News reported him saying.
Netanyahu vowed to annihilate Hamas because of an October 7 attack which started this Gaza conflict. According to official Israeli statistics published by Parami News, it claimed 1,197 lives mostly among the civilian population. Additionally, there were 251 hostages taken by fighters, with 39 dead and 111 still in custody in Gaza as per military reports.
