Iran will have to respond to assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

As the world awaits Iran’s response, almost certainly a barrage of missiles at select targets and possibly an escalation from Hezbollah, the Middle East is on a knife-edge

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Iranians attend a funeral ceremony held for Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated yesterday (Image: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

Iran will have to respond to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh - apparently one of Mossad’s boldest and high-risk moves in the past year.

It came just hours after an air-strike is claimed to have killed Hezbollah’s number two commander Fuad Shukr in an apartment block in southern Beirut.

Both attacks are significant - but the geography of Haniyeh's killing was high-risk and dangerous as it struck deep inside Tehran. That said, it was in equal measure a major achievement for Israel and a security blunder for Iran.

As the world awaits Iran’s response, almost certainly a barrage of missiles at select targets and possibly an escalation from Hezbollah, the Middle East is on a knife-edge.

Former FBI man Ali Soufan, a world-leading expert in terrorism focusing on the Middle East, issued a report this week in which he says of America’s stance:

“The U.S. has historically been a key ally of Israel and might feel compelled to intervene to support its strategic partner, particularly if Israel faces coordinated attacks on multiple fronts.