Thousands of people participated in the state-organized mourning ceremony in the Iranian capital, Tehran, for the dead leader of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.
Iran’s entire political elite, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and new president Masoud Pezeshkian were also present.
Khamenei held a prayer for the dead in front of Haniyeh’s coffin.
With chants such as “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” the crowd expressed their support for Haniyeh and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as well as their resistance against Israel.
The Iranian government declared three days of national mourning following the targeted assassination of a high-ranking Hamas leader in Tehran.
Haniyeh will be buried on Friday in his adopted home of Qatar.
Haniyeh was in Tehran on Tuesday for a visit to Pezeshkian’s inauguration as the new Iranian president when he was the victim of a nighttime attack. Hamas and Iran accuse their archenemy Israel of carrying out the attack.
Experts say it remains unclear what exactly led to his death, saying it was either an airstrike or a missile attack that caused it. The location of the attack was a “special residence” in northern Tehran – allegedly in the palace of the former Persian Shah – which is normally strictly guarded.
Hamas and Iran have both threatened imminent retaliation against Israel.
Khamenei and President Pezeshkian described punitive action as the country’s legitimate right, given that the attack was carried out on Iranian soil. At a crisis meeting on Wednesday, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council analyzed several scenarios, but details have not yet been released.
