Iran has the “right” to punish Israel for assassinating Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its soil, its foreign ministry said on Monday, as the US sent reinforcements to the Mediterranean Sea to help defend its ally and lower the risk of a wider confrontation.
Israel and the region are waiting on Iran’s already pledged retaliation for the killing of Haniyeh, Hamas’s political chief, in Tehran last week, hours after he attended the inauguration of the country’s new president.
The region has been on edge since the killing, with US secretary of state Antony Blinken telling his G7 counterparts that Iran’s response would be imminent. Some Israeli supermarkets ran out of bottled water over the weekend, and residents of Beirut on Monday felt their homes shake from warplanes breaking the sound barrier — a common show of force from the Israeli air force.