Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders attack on Israel: Netanyahu warns of ‘challenges’

Iran has vowed that every Israeli military and political figure can be targeted, as Tehran reportedly considers a combination attack of drones and missiles on military targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel. Picture: AFP.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly issued an order for a direct attack on Israel for the killing in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, telling Iranians it was the country’s “duty” to avenge Haniyeh’s death.

Ayatollah Khamenei made the order after an emergency meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, the New York Times reports, citing Iranian officials including members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Earlier, Ayatollah Khamenei vowed revenge on Israel, posting on X/Twitter: “Following this bitter, tragic event which has taken place within the borders of the Islamic Republic, it is our duty to take revenge.”

He added: “The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our house and grieved us, but it also prepared a harsh punishment for itself.”

According to the New York Times, Iranian military commanders are considering a combination attack of drones and missiles on military targets in the vicinity of Tel Aviv and Haifa similar to the attack in April after the assassination of Revolutionary Guards generals in a strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus. However they will avoid strikes on civilian targets, officials told the Times.

The order came after new President Masoud Pezeshkian – for whose inauguration Haniyeh was in Tehran – promised earlier: “The Zionist regime will soon see the results of its cowardly act,” while the Revolutionary Guards also warned of a severe response.

In a statement, the IRGC said: “The martyrdom of Haniyeh will only strengthen our resolve to fight against the Zionist regime.”

Tehran also vowed: “every Zionist military and political official will be a potential target,”

and claimed the US was complicit in Haniyeh’s assassination. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said the US remained a backer of the Israeli regime “in such criminal acts as the terrorist assassination of Haniyeh,” Iran’s Fars news agency reports.

Benjamin Netanyahu has warned of 'challenging times ahead'. Picture: Getty Images.

Israeli media reports the military is preparing for a variety of scenarios, including the firing of rockets and missiles, an attack by drones, and even attempts to penetrate the northern border with Lebanon.

It is unlikely that any strike will take place before the funerals take place of Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s top military commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed in a strike on Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut hours before the Hamas leader’s death. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrullah will lead prayers for Shukr, while Ayatollah Khamenei will lead funeral prayers for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday local time, according to Iran’s state-run Press TV says.

Meanwhile the UN Security Council has called for stepped up diplomatic efforts to avoid a region wide conflagration. Robert Wood, deputy US ambassador to the UN, urged members of the council with influence over Iran “to increase pressure on it to stop escalating its proxy conflict against Israel and other actors.”

Earlier, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of “challenging days ahead” amid growing fears of a regional conflagration, but defiantly declared that Israel “delivered crushing blows to all our enemies.”

“Anyone who kills our children, anyone who assassinates our citizens, anyone who harms our country – their head is marked for a price,” Mr Netanyahu said in a televised address.

The White House said the strikes “don’t help” regional tensions but said there were no signs of an imminent wider conflict. However US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated his “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security and told reporters Washington would come to its defence if needed.

In his televised statement, Mr Netanyahu explicitly mentioned Shukr’s assassination but didn’t make any reference to Haniyeh’s death.

However he said that had Israel succumbed to pressure for ending the war in Gaza it “would not have eliminated Hamas leaders and thousands of terrorists”.

He directly referred to the killing of Shukr in a southern Beirut neighbourhood.

“We’ve eliminated (Hezbollah chief Hassan) Nasrallah’s right-hand man, who was directly responsible for the massacre of children,” Mr Netanyahu said, in reference to the killing of 12 children over the weekend in a strike Israel has blamed on the Lebanese armed group.

“We have settled our scores with Mohsen and we will settle our scores with anyone who harms us,” he said using Shukr’s nom de guerre.

Hundreds of Iranians take part in a protest against the killing of Ismail Haniyeh in Palestine Square, Tehran. Picture: Getty Images.

He also defended Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip, saying: “If we had listened to these voices, we would not have eliminated Hamas leaders and thousands of terrorists, we would not have destroyed terrorist infrastructures … we would not have created the conditions that bring us closer to an agreement that will allow both the liberation of all our hostages and the achievement of all the war’s objectives.”

As fears grow of a regional conflagration, the US has warned citizens not to travel to Lebanon, while British Airways and America’s Delta and United Airlines have cancelled all flights to Israel, stranding their citizens in Israel and Israelis in the US and UK.

Shin Bet has also tightened security around Mr Netanyahu and other ministers, warning them only to attend events with immediately accessible shelters.

This is the building where Haniyeh was eliminated in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/d2zXg0xdOi

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 31, 2024

The source of the missile that killed Haniyeh remains a mystery. Israeli media has pointed out that, unlike in other Israeli strikes in Lebanon, Damascus and Beirut when local media

immediately publish pictures of the rubble after a strike, there have been no pictures of the building in which Haniyeh was targeted. However a picture of a building in Tehran is circulating on social media with claims that it was the residence where Haniyeh was killed along with a bodyguard. Iranian media said the strike targeted “the special residences for war veterans in north Tehran.”

An unnamed Iranian source told the Al-Madeeyan outlet that Haniyeh was killed by a missile from outside Iran. However, Israel’s Channel 12 later reported Iranian officials were coming to the conclusion that the projectile was fired from within the country’s borders. According to the same report, Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah was staying in the same building on a different floor but was not targeted.

With AFP