The United States denied any responsibility for the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed overnight in Tehran, Iran.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is currently in the Pacific region visiting regional leaders, told Channel News Asia the U.S. was “not aware of or involved in” the assassination attempt.
NourNews, an outlet affiliated with Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said the residence Haniyeh was staying at in Tehran was hit by an airborne projectile around 2 a.m. local time early Wednesday morning.
Israel has not publicly taken responsibility for the assassination of Haniyeh, though they're the most likely culprit given their known interest in killing the leaders of Hamas whom it holds responsible for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel that prompted the current war. Hamas killed roughly 1,200 people in the attack and kidnapped another 250, about half of whom are still held against their will in Gaza.
Haniyeh had led Hamas's negotiating efforts for a ceasefire deal.
The prime minister of Qatar, which along with the U.S. and Egypt has acted as a mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, suggested that Haniyeh's killing raises questions about Israel's sincerity in pursuing a deal.
"Political assassinations and continued targeting of civilians in Gaza while talks continue lead us to ask: How can mediation succeed when one party assassinates the negotiator on other side?" Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani posted on X.
The fact that his killing took place in Tehran is also significant, and will likely press them into retaliating.
Israel and Iran have also spent years carrying out overt operations designed to disrupt the other, ranging from assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, often attributed to Israel's spy agency known as Mossad, to Tehran's continued funding and support for proxy forces in the region.
There are rare instances when Iran and Israel attack each other directly, such as in April when Iranian forces launched an overwhelming barrage of rockets, missiles, and drones at Israel following an Israeli strike on an Iranian Consulate in Syria that killed a senior Iranian commander and other senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Israel, with the help of several allies, most prominently the U.S., was able to intercept nearly all of those projectiles.
Israel and Hezbollah, an allied terrorist group of Hamas based in Lebanon, have also engaged in a narrow conflict that largely is only cross-border rocket and missile attacks since shortly after the Oct. 7 attack. Hezbollah and Hamas are among Iran's proxy forces in the Middle East that it often relies on to target Israel for deniability.
Hours before Haniyeh was killed, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed it had “eliminated” a Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsin, whom it said was responsible for the aerial attack in the Golan Heights last weekend that left a dozen children dead.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke to his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant after the strike targeting Shukr.
"Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant about Israel’s response to Lebanese Hizballah’s July 27 attack on Israel, which killed twelve innocent civilians, mostly children. They discussed the threats to Israel posed by a range of Iranian-backed terrorist groups, including Lebanese Hizballah. Secretary Austin reaffirmed his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and right to self-defense," Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
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On Tuesday, Austin reaffirmed that the U.S. would come to Israel's defense if Israel and Hezbollah's conflict devolved into an all-out war.
Austin reiterated that "if Israel is attacked" by Hezbollah similar to Iran's unprecedented aerial attack in April, "yes, we will help to — help Israel defend itself."