Iran will strike Israel – NYT

The countries exchanged direct fire earlier this year, sparking fears of an all-out war

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct strike on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this week, The New York Times (NYT) reported on Wednesday.

Khamenei reportedly gave the instruction after convening Iran’s Supreme National Security Council for an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning following the missile strike, the newspaper said, quoting three Iranian officials speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Haniyeh had been in the Iranian capital for the inauguration of the new President, Masoud Pezeshkian, when a missile struck his accommodation on Wednesday, killing him and one of his bodyguards.

“We consider it our duty to take vengeance,” Iran’s supreme leader said in a statement on Wednesday. Khamenei condemned Israel for attacking Haniyeh while he was a “dear guest in our house.”

The Jewish State has neither confirmed nor denied being behind the assassination.

Israel had vowed to take out Haniyeh and other figures in the Hamas leadership after the militant group’s October 7 attack, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and saw more than 250 taken hostage. Since then, the Israeli military campaign has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave, according to local health authorities, causing severe friction with Iran.

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In April, Israel struck an Iranian embassy compound in Syria and Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones in a direct retaliatory strike on Israel, prompting the US and other powers to mobilize air and naval forces to assist Israeli air defenses.

“It is unclear how forcefully Iran will respond” to Wednesday’s strike on Tehran which killed Haniyeh, NYT wrote.

“Iranian military commanders are considering another combination attack of drones and missiles on military targets in the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Haifa, but would make a point of avoiding strikes on civilian targets,” it quoted the Iranian officials as saying.

Another option is “a coordinated attack from Iran and other fronts where it has allied forces, including Yemen, Syria and Iraq, for maximum effect,” according to the newspaper’s sources.