Iran says it will take its time in its response to the July 31 killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the US- and EU-designated Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
Iran has kept the world on edge since it promised to strike Israel -- which it blames for the attack that killed Haniyeh -- a move experts say could plunge the region into an all-out war.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied carrying out the attack. But it has vowed to kill leaders of Hamas over the group’s October 7 attack inside Israeli territory.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said after the assassination that Iran was "duty-bound" to avenge its "guest."
"Time is in our favor, and the waiting period for this response could be long," Ali Mohammad Naini, a spokesman for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on August 30, adding any response "may not be a repetition of past operations."
The 62-year-old Haniyeh was killed while he was in Tehran to attend the July 30 inauguration ceremony for Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian.
