Iran commander says Israel ‘punishment’ will be carried out in ‘best possible way’

The orders of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to “punish” Israel for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran will be executed “in the best possible way,” a top Iranian military commander said on Friday.

The Middle East has been on high alert since last week’s assassinations of top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Haniyeh in Tehran. Iran and its regional proxies, including Lebanese Hezbollah, have blamed Israel for these attacks and vowed to retaliate.

Israel confirmed it was behind the strike on Shukr but has not claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing.

Khamenei’s “orders regarding severe punishment of Israel and revenge for the blood of martyr Ismail Haniyeh are clear and explicit,” Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted Ali Fadavi, deputy chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as saying.

“The orders of the supreme leader will be carried out in the best possible way,” Fadavi said.

In a statement made shortly after Haniyeh’s death, Khamenei said that it was Iran’s duty to avenge the Hamas leader’s death, given that it occurred on Iranian soil.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

US officials have said that Washington had no involvement in either the attack on Shukr or the attack on Haniyeh, but privately acknowledged that Israel was behind Haniyeh’s killing.