DUBAI: Senior Iranian officials will meet representatives of Iran's regional allies Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday to discuss possible retaliation against Israel after the killing of the Hamas leader in Tehran, five sources told Reuters.
The region risks a widening conflict between Israel, Iran and its allies following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday and the killing of Hezbollah's top commander on Tuesday in an Israeli attack on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut.
Representatives of Iran's Palestinian allies Hamas and Islamic Jihad, as well as Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi movement, Lebanon's Hezbollah and Iraqi resistance groups, will attend the Tehran meeting, the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said.
“Iran and the resistance members will conduct a thorough assessment after the Tehran meeting to find the best and most effective way to take revenge on the Zionist regime (Israel),” a senior Iranian official with direct knowledge of the meeting said.
Another Iranian official said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards would be present.
“How Iran and the resistance front will respond is currently being reviewed… This will definitely happen and the Zionist regime (Israel) will undoubtedly regret it,” Gen. Mohammad Baqeri, the Iranian armed forces' chief of staff, told state TV on Thursday.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the attack that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new president in Tehran on Wednesday.
But Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility for the attack, which has prompted threats of revenge against Israel and fueled further concerns that the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is escalating into an all-out war in the Middle East.
Israeli Air Force Chief Tomer Bar, speaking at the military graduation ceremony in Israel on Wednesday evening, warned that Israel will take action against anyone who intends to harm its citizens.
“We are also highly prepared in defense. Hundreds of air defense soldiers, along with air control personnel, are deployed across the country with the best systems, ready to carry out their mission,” Bar said.
Haniyeh and Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Al-Nakhala, as well as senior representatives of Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi movement and Lebanon's Hezbollah, attended the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new president in Tehran on Tuesday. Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassim and MK Hassan Fadlallah were in Iran for the inauguration and stayed for the funeral and the meeting, sources close to Hezbollah thought said.
'Serious consequences'
Hamas's armed wing said in a statement that killing Haniyeh “would take the battle to new dimensions and have serious repercussions.” Vowing to retaliate, Iran said the United States was responsible because of its support for Israel.
“Iran has asked key commanders of Iraqi resistance groups to travel to Tehran on Wednesday to attend an urgent meeting to discuss retaliation against recent Israeli attacks, including those in Lebanon and Iran and the US attack on Iraq,” a local Iraqi militia commander said.
Another militia source said that the resistance group's commanders left to attend Haniyeh's funeral and also to attend an “urgent high-level meeting” to decide on further retaliatory measures against Israel and the United States.
On Thursday, the day after his assassination, Iranians gathered to mourn Haniyeh.
“All resistance fronts will avenge Haniyeh's blood,” Iran's semi-official Mehr Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told the semi-official Mehr news agency.
The Iranian-backed Axis of Resistance includes Hamas (the Palestinian group that ignited the war in Gaza by attacking Israel on October 7), Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and various Shiite armed groups in Iraq and Syria.
On April 13, Iran launched a barrage of missiles and drones at Israel in what it called retaliation for Israel's alleged deadly attack on the embassy compound in Damascus on April 1, but nearly all of them were shot down.
“Iran's response to the assassination of martyr Haniyeh will be stronger than before,” former Revolutionary Guards commander Esmail Kosari told state television.
