Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayer for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Thousands of mourners gathered at Tehran University, in the capital’s city center, on Thursday with posters of Haniya and Palestinian flags.
After the prayers, large crowds marched Haniyeh’s body, along with his bodyguard, in a 5 km (3 mi) funeral procession from Tehran to Azadi (Freedom) Square on Wednesday.
After that, Haniya’s body will be taken to Qatar’s capital Doha for burial.
The ceremony started with the speech of the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Baqir Ghalib. He said that Shaheed Ismail Haniya was the voice of the Palestinian people all over the world. “He wasn’t just a leader. He was a wise man.
Ghalib added that there will be no response to Haniya’s murder in Tehran.
“Our response will be there. At the right time and at the right place. It is difficult for us to target and kill our guest on our soil.”
Commenting from Doha, Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar said that Tehran’s mood was mixed. “On the one hand, Iranians are really worried about these continuous killings because this is not the first killing in Iran,” he said.
“On the other hand, you will find that the Iranian people are very concerned about any serious retaliation that could lead to a regional war.”
Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in an attack on their residence in the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning. Hamas leaders were in Tehran on Tuesday for the swearing-in of newly elected President Masoud Pizshakyan.
“Our response will be there. At the right time and at the right place. It is difficult for us to target and kill our guest on our soil.”
Commenting from Doha, Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar said that Tehran’s mood was mixed. “On the one hand, Iranians are really worried about these continuous killings because this is not the first killing in Iran,” he said.
“On the other hand, you will find that the Iranian people are very concerned about any serious retaliation that could lead to a regional war.”
Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in an attack on their residence in the Iranian capital on Wednesday morning. Hamas leaders were in Tehran on Tuesday for the swearing-in of newly elected President Masoud Pizshakyan.
Khamenei promised to “severely punish” Israel and said “it is our duty to avenge his blood because he was martyred on the soil of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
“The Zionists (Israel) will soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act,” Pyzhashkian said on Wednesday.
Musa Abu Marzouq, a member of the political bureau of Hamas, also promised retaliation, saying: “The killing of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not be answered.”
Israel has refused to comment on Tehran’s attack.
The killing comes hours after a revenge attack on Lebanon’s capital Beirut targeted top Hezbollah commander Fawad Shukar, sparking fears of a wider regional war.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the attacks in Tehran and Beirut represented a “dangerous escalation”.
He said all efforts should be made to “lead to a ceasefire” in Gaza and the release of prisoners during the October 7 attack on southern Israel led by Hamas.
Gaza’s health ministry says at least 39,445 people have been killed and 91,073 injured in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel and more than 200 were taken hostage during the Hamas-led attacks.
