Iran’s foreign ministry: Haniyeh’s ‘blood will never be wasted’

Tehran (Quds News Network)- An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s “blood will never be wasted”, after he was assassinated in Tehran.

“Haniyeh’s martyrdom in Tehran will strengthen the deep and unbreakable bond between Tehran, Palestine, and the resistance,” Nasser Kanaani said, according to Iranian state media.

The head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran, the Palestinian group said in a statement on Wednesday morning. Haniyeh had traveled to Tehran to attend Tuesday’s inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. This visit marked Haniyeh’s final public appearance.

“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas mourns to our great Palestinian people, to the Arab and Islamic nation, and to all the free people of the world: Brother, leader, martyr, Mujahid Ismail Haniyeh,” Hamas said in the statement.

“The head of the movement, who was killed in a treacherous Zionist raid on his residence in Tehran, after participating in the inauguration ceremony of the new Iranian president.”

Israel has not yet commented on the assassination incident.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it would investigate the incident: “We are studying the dimensions of Haniyeh’s martyrdom incident in Tehran.”

On May 6, 2017, Hamas, the Palestinian political movement that rules the Gaza Strip, elected Ismail Haniyeh as the head of its political bureau, replacing Khaled Meshaal.

Haniyeh was imprisoned multiple times by Israeli occupation authorities and lived in and out of the Gaza Strip after facing deportation and assassination attempts.