Tehran, Iran – 1000’s poured into the streets of Tehran to fasten the funeral procession of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh as Iran weighs its choices having promised to avenge his assassination.
The our bodies of the Palestinian political professional and his bodyguard, who was once killed along him a future previous in Iran in a collision blamed on Israel, had been marched amid chants within the capital.
تصاویر هوایی از تشییع پیکر شهید هنیه پس از اقامه نماز رهبر معظم انقلاب در تهران pic.twitter.com/1XzalnPU6y
— خبرگزاری ایرنا (@IRNA_1313) August 1, 2024
Flags of Palestine, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas swayed within the air as organisers passed out posters of Haniyeh. Banners honoured the Palestinian chief and the past due Iranian normal Qassem Soleimani who was once assassinated by way of the US in 2020, amongst others.
“Avenging the blood of the guest is with the host, the world is waiting,” learn the headline of the ultraconservative Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by way of the ultimate chief.
Alternative supremacy day by day newspapers adopted the topics of revenge, defiance and bereavement.
“We must give a strong response to Israel, anything less would make many people unhappy,” 46-year-old Hamid Hajian, who attended the funeral procession, advised Al Jazeera.
“It looked like there might be a ceasefire deal for Gaza but that’s over now. Talking is not helping, I hope Iran gives a stronger response than last time,” he stated, regarding the April 14 assault on Israel in retaliation for an breeze assault on Tehran’s consulate in Syria.
Iran’s supremacy government have promised “harsh” retaliation for the killing of its “guest”.
Haniyeh was once assassinated hours later Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s establishing rite.
A purple flag was once hoisted above the Jamkaran Mosque within the holy Shia town of Qom south of Tehran to mirror the agreement of blood. The Milad Tower in Tehran, an iconic development within the capital, was once lit up in purple in a single day.
Mohammad Bagheri, the leader of personnel of Iranian militia, urged on Thursday that the reaction may come as a part of a coordinated attempt with the so-called “axis of resistance”, a regional community of armed teams that Tehran helps.
Haniyeh ‘hit directly’ with missile
Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy head of Hamas within the Gaza Strip, advised newshounds at a information convention in Tehran past due on Wednesday that “a missile entered the room” of Haniyeh and killed him and his bodyguard in an assault that “directly” crash the ground of the development the place he was once staying.
A picture excused past due Wednesday by way of Sabereen Information, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Progressive Defend Corps (IRGC), claimed to turn the web page of the assassination. It confirmed a multistorey development in part lined with a unlit tarp that gave the impression to have sustained injury to 2 flooring. Al Jazeera was once not able to independently examine the picture.
The guesthouse was once within the Saadabad Palace Advanced segment in north Tehran, the place overseas dignitaries are hosted and the place Iranian presidents welcome heads of shape on professional visits.
Iranian officers have no longer showed the main points of the assassination. They’ve to this point handiest reported {that a} guided “airborne projectile” focused Haniyeh’s place of abode.
An analyst interviewed by way of Iranian shape media stated Haniyeh was once most probably tracked since he was once the use of the similar SIM card he did out of doors Iran.
‘Things are happening so fast’
Because the spectre of all-out battle continues to creep over the patch, some in Iran also are involved in regards to the war increasing.
“I hope it won’t escalate much further and I believe we’re still not at the point of direct war, but a lot of it could depend on Iran’s response as well,” stated a 24-year-old girl in Tehran who requested to not be named.
“If Iran’s attack kills Israelis, then it’s dangerous, because the Israelis are bloodthirsty,” she advised Al Jazeera.
Israel has no longer introduced any remark at the assassination, however later the October 7 incursion into southern Israel, which was once led by way of the gang and throughout which 1,139 folk had been killed, Israeli officers promised to blast Haniyeh and alternative Hamas leaders as a part of a said effort to overwhelm the gang.
America, which has stated it had disagree wisdom of the assault on Haniyeh, has reportedly suggested Iran, by way of intermediaries, in opposition to placing at Israel, one thing Iran has unwanted emphatically.
In the meantime, markets in Tehran first of all reacted with fear.
The secure marketplace skilled a fall on Wednesday, with the benchmark index of the Tehran trade completing 2 % not up to a future previous as Iran headed into the weekend.
The nationwide foreign money, the rial, additionally slipped by way of about 3 % to rise above the 600,000-mark for every US greenback.
However later years of weathering turbulence starting from US sanctions to fears of battle, the markets don’t seem to be anticipated to be shaken up a lot additional. That might all exchange, even though, if an all-out war takes book.
Ali, a 31-year-old information analyst from the capital, does no longer be expecting the sort of situation.
“Things are happening so fast, just this year we’ve been through stuff that some might not experience in a lifetime. But I think Iran and Israel will probably hit some military targets and avoid wider war.”