US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that Washington had no knowledge of or involvement in the death of political leader of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.
“This is something that we were not aware of or involved in. It is very difficult to speculate” on the impact of this assassination, Blinken told Channel News Asia during his visit to Singapore.
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas confirmed on Wednesday the death of its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran, where he was on an official visit, and blamed Israel for his murder, warning that “will not go unpunished”.
The US foreign policy chief declined to comment on how the death of the Hamas leader could influence the conflict in Middle East.
“I have learned over the years not to speculate about the impact one event may have on something else,” he said.
In line with what he expressed hours earlier during a press conference, Blinken stressed the importance of reaching a ceasefire in the conflict and showed the US commitment to “work on it for as long as it takes”.
The US Secretary of State stressed that “it is vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza” and “bring the hostages home, including some Americans.”
“One of the things we’ve been focused on is making sure that the conflict that has emerged in Gaza doesn’t spread,” he added. Hours before Blinken’s comments, who is on a tour of Asia, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, also on the Asian continent, argued from the Philippines that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East “is not inevitable” despite Haniyeh’s death.
Iran vows response “that will make the perpetrator regret”
Iran has promised through its mission to the United Nations that the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh will merit a response.which will make the perpetrator deeply regret” of his death, in a post posted on his X account.
The brief message promises that the response to this murder will be a “special operation” that it does not specify and that it defines as “harsher and in order to make the perpetrator deeply regret” of the murder.
He does not refer to Israel by name, although Iran never does, as it usually refers to it as “the Zionist entity” or some such adjective.
Hamas’ political leader, who was in Tehran to take part in the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, was killed along with one of his bodyguards at 2:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday (22:30 GMT on Tuesday), in an attack on his residence in the Iranian capital.
The incident has been attributed to Israel, which, however, has not acknowledged its responsibility.
Iran’s government declared three days of national mourning on Wednesday for the assassination of Haniyeh, saying in a statement that the crime “saddened the supporters of the resistance and all free peoples of the world,” and announced three days of national mourning, according to the IRNA news agency.
“This murder added another page to the shameful list of crimes committed by the criminal and usurping Zionist sect (Israel)“, he denounced.
