TEHRAN, Jul. 31 (MNA) – Secretary of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations Abbas Araghchi says the Israeli regime will pay a heavy price for the assassination on Iranian soil of senior Palestinian resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh.

In a post on X on Wednesday, Araghchi offered his condolences to the Palestinian nation and all forces of the Resistance Front in the region on the martyrdom of Haniyeh. 

The senior diplomat, who is regarded as one of the candidates to become the next Iranian foreign minister under upcoming administration, said the Israeli regime will fail to reach its objective of blocking the works of the new government in Iran. 

Haniyeh, who served as the political bureau chief of Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, was assassinated along with one of his bodyguards in their accommodation in Tehran in the early hours of Wednesday.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said in a statement earlier today that avenging the martyrdom of Haniyah which happened on Iran's territory is a duty. 

The Leader vowed to avenge blood of 'dear guest' Haniyeh, warning the Israel usurping regime of ‘harsh punishment’.

MNA/IRN