A funeral ceremony has concluded in Tehran for Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Iran-backed Palestinian extremist group Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.
Iran said Haniyeh, 62, was killed on July 31 in Tehran in a raid that it accused Israel of carrying out and which has sparked fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East.
Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayers alongside the country’s newly inaugurated president, Masud Pezekshian, while in downtown Tehran crowds gathered carrying portraits of Haniyeh and Palestinian flags at Tehran University.
The entire ceremony was broadcast live on state television.
Haniyeh is due to be buried later in the capital of Qatar, Doha, where he lived.
Khamenei has threatened a "harsh punishment" for the killing of Haniyeh. His office said that it is Iran’s “duty to take revenge” after Haniyeh’s death.
Muza Abu Marzuk, a member of Hamas's political bureau also vowed revenge.
"The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered," Marzuk said.
SEE ALSO: Who Was Slain Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh?The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who was the first to announce Haniyeh's death, said it was investigating the attack that killed him while he was in Tehran to attend Pezeshkian's July 30 inauguration ceremony.
The Israeli government has yet to comment officially, but a photo of Haniyeh with a stamp on his forehead saying "Eliminated" was posted on the Government Press Office's Facebook page. The post, which was later deleted without explanation, did not specifically claim the strike was carried out by Israel, though it noted the Hamas official "was killed in a precise strike in Tehran."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas over the group’s October 7 attack inside Israel's territory that killed 1,200 people. Around 250 others were taken hostage, some of whom have since been released.
Some of the hostages have died while in Gaza as Israel carries out a massive military operation it says is aimed at eliminating Hamas. Some of the hostages are believed to still be alive.
Haniyeh’s killing has triggered fears of an escalation in the region where tensions have already been high since the start of the war in Gaza.
The incident comes as Washington is making a push to get Hamas and Israel to agree to a temporary cease-fire and a deal to release hostages being held in Gaza. Senior officials from the United States, Israel, Qatar, and Egypt are engaged in the latest round of talks to secure such a deal.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that Washington was "not aware of or involved in" Haniyeh’s assassination and wouldn’t speculate on the impact it might have on the region.
He did say, however, that the "best way to bring the temperature down" was to keep pushing for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel.
The UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on July 31 at Iran's request to discuss Haniyeh's death, with Tehran's envoy Amir Saeid Iravani urging members to take "immediate action to ensure accountability for these violations of international law."
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Analysis: Risk Of Regional War 'Increasing' After Haniyeh Death
Ali Mamouri, a research fellow with Australia’s Deakin University and Middle East specialist, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that while the situation is still far from a full-scale regional war, "new levels of conflict will escalate."
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Radio Farda that there was "a likelihood that the Iranians will look for a way to react to the elimination of Ismail Haniyeh."
"But I think that the fact that the Israeli government did not recognize publicly and officially any responsibility...will somehow influence the extent or the extremity of the Iranian reaction. I think it will be somewhat more moderate than under different circumstances," he said.
Haniyeh became Hamas's political chief in 2017 and lived in the Gaza Strip until 2019, when he moved to live in exile in Qatar.
Seen by some analysts as a moderating influence, he had emerged as one of its most visible leaders during the war with Israel in Gaza as he shuttled between countries in the Middle East to attend international negotiations over the conflict, including the release of the hostages still being held by Hamas.