Tehran is under pressure to avenge the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, but analysts said it is balancing multiple factors as it weighs a response.

The crisis comes at an especially delicate moment in Iran, which analysts say is trying to formulate a response that doesn’t let an assassination on its soil go unpunished, while avoiding an all-out war against a powerful adversary. It also comes as a new government in Tehran has taken office, which could be slowing a decision on how to respond.

Iran and Hamas officials have promised to avenge the death of Ismail Haniyeh, a senior Hamas leader, who was killed in Tehran on July 31 after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran, which backs Hamas, blamed Israel for the assassination. Israeli leaders have not said their forces were responsible.

A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Nasser Kanaan, said that “it is necessary to punish Israel,” echoing comments from other senior Iranian officials. But he also said that “Tehran is not interested in escalating the regional conflicts.”

  • @MissJinx
    6•3 months ago

    tbf they can worship anything they want. My problem is not so much with having faith but with the mass control, kid rape, women killing part of things, that comes from organized religion. When someone gives a dude the power to talk like god it’s never good. Why do people need to have other people teling them how to think all the time?!!! Idiocracy

    • @WhyFlip
      -7•3 months ago

      Organized religion for the most part is a good thing as it tends to control the masses, setting boundaries as to what is right and wrong. Now we have digital pacifiers, the latest means of mass control.