Iran's supreme leader prays over coffin of Hamas leader Haniyeh

Iran’s supreme leader and representatives of Palestinian militias he backs prayed on Thursday over the coffins of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and his bodyguard.

The pair were killed in an assassination blamed on Israel that increased the risk of escalating into an all-out regional war.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prayed over Haniyeh’s coffin at Tehran University while Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian stood next to him. State television later showed the coffins placed in a truck and moved on the street toward Azadi Square in Tehran, where bystanders threw flowers onto them.

Haniyeh came to Tehran to attend the inauguration of Pezeshkian but, hours later, he was killed in an airstrike that hit a residence Haniyeh uses in Tehran. Iranian authorities said the attack is under investigation but haven't yet provided further details.

Israel had pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s 7 October attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.

Iran supports Hamas, as well as Hezbollah and other Palestinian militant groups fighting Israel in Gaza.

In response to Haniyeh's death US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “all parties” in the Middle East must avoid escalatory actions that could plunge the region into further conflict.

Speaking in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar on Thursday, Blinken appealed for countries to “make the right choices in the days ahead” and said a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was the only way to begin to break the current cycle of violence and suffering. Blinken did not mention Israel, Iran or Hamas by name in his comments.

Tensions between Israel and Iran rose earlier this year when Israel hit Iran’s embassy in Damascus in April. Iran retaliated, and Israel