Tehran, Aug 01 (V7N) — Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and representatives of Palestinian militias backed by Tehran gathered Thursday to pay their respects to the slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard. Their deaths, attributed to an Israeli airstrike, have heightened tensions and risked triggering a broader regional conflict.
 
Khamenei offered prayers over Haniyeh’s coffin at Tehran University, with Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian present. State television later broadcast footage of the coffins being transported through the streets of Tehran toward Azadi Square, where people threw flowers in tribute.
 
Following the funeral in Tehran, Haniyeh's remains will be flown to Qatar for burial on Friday.
 
Haniyeh had arrived in Tehran to attend Pezeshkian's inauguration. Photographs from the Associated Press captured him alongside leaders from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, as well as meeting Khamenei. He was killed hours later in an airstrike on his Tehran residence. Iranian officials have stated that the attack is under investigation, but details remain sparse.
 
The assassination follows Israel’s vow to target Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders in response to the group's October 7 assault on southern Israel, which ignited the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The strike coincided with an Israeli attack on a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
 
Iran supports Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Palestinian militant factions in their conflict with Israel.
 
During the inauguration ceremony, Pezeshkian expressed solidarity with the Palestinians, declaring, “Iran demands a world where no Palestinian child’s dreams are buried under the rubble of their home.” He called for an end to occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people.
 
Earlier this year, Israel and Iran came close to full-scale war following an attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus by Israel. The subsequent exchange of strikes on each other’s territory was contained through international intervention, avoiding further escalation.
 
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