Iran Rebuffs Calls for Restraint in Its Response to Killing of Hamas Leader
U.S. and Arab diplomats seek to head off spiral of violence over Ismail Haniyeh’s death in Tehran as Iran probes attack
Updated Aug. 4, 2024
Iran rejected U.S. and Arab efforts to temper its response to the killing in Tehran of Hamas’s top political leader, as authorities were investigating the security breaches that led to the attack.
Iranian prosecutors said Saturday that they had opened a formal investigation into the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, which came hours after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut. The two attacks, following a rocket strike on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, escalated a recent cycle of violence and threatened to push the region to the brink of war.
Iranian leaders have vowed to retaliate. On Saturday, Iran told Arab diplomats it didn’t care if the response triggered a war, according to people familiar with the conversations.
The U.S. asked European and other partner governments to convey a message to Iran not to escalate, warning any significant strike would draw a response and signaling that efforts by Iran’s new President Masoud Pezeshkian to improve engagement with the West would have a better chance if Iran shows restraint, according to people involved in the discussions. The U.S. also said, as a part of its message, that it was pressing Israel to de-escalate too.
Jordan said on Sunday that it had sent its foreign minister to Tehran, and the Lebanese foreign minister was also headed to Cairo to discuss ways to diffuse tensions.
Israel said it was prepared to defend against and respond to any retaliatory strike.
“Israel is now in a multifront war against the Iranian axis of evil,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. “We are ready for any scenario—either defensive or offensive. I repeat to our enemies: We will respond and exact a heavy price for any act of aggression against us, from any arena.”
The killing of Haniyeh in Tehran, who was there to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new president was an embarrassing security failure for Iran. He was killed by a bomb while he was staying in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
Iran and Hamas, which blame Israel for the attack, disputed that a bomb killed Haniyeh, saying he was struck by a missile. Israel hasn’t publicly commented on the killing.
Sadeq Rahimi, the deputy chief of Iran’s judiciary, said on Saturday that the country’s public prosecutor opened an investigation into Haniyeh’s death and issued an order to identify and arrest anyone who was either negligent or knowingly worked with Israel in the killing, according to the local Fars news agency, which is affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Some security officials have already been questioned, according to people familiar with the matter.
“Whether Israel has used infiltratory elements, human agents and spies, or it has committed this crime directly are under investigation,” said Rahimi, according to Mehr news, also close to the IRGC.
Politicians in Tehran have said the attack exposed intelligence failures by Iran’s security agencies. “There are gaps and contaminations in the security-information system of the country,” said Ahmad Bakhshaish Ardestani, a member of the foreign-affairs and national-security commission in Iran’s parliament, to Iran’s Didban news site.
Israel has put its military on high alert, while U.S. officials have worked to get military assets and regional partners ready to stop an attack that some fear could be broader and more complex than an Iranian assault in April.
“We are preparing for every possibility, just as we did in advance of April 13 when Iran attacked Israel and the United States and a coalition of our partners and allies worked with Israel to defeat that attack,” U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told ABC News on Sunday.
In that attack, Iran fired more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel, but only after telegraphing its response to diplomats ahead of time and giving Israel and the U.S. a chance to prepare. Ultimately, most of the projectiles were shot down before reaching Israel. But this time, Iran has refused to provide detailed warnings that would help mitigate the impact of any strike.
Separately on Sunday, Hamas claimed responsibility for a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Holon. The attacker killed two elderly people and injured two others, according to Magen David Adom, emergency rescue operators, and Wolfson Medical Center.
Dov Lieber and Aresu Eqbali contributed to this article.
Write to Summer Said at summer.said@wsj.com, Benoit Faucon at benoit.faucon@wsj.com and Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com