Tehran [Iran], August 1 (ANI): Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered Iran to strike Israel directly in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, New York Times reported, citing three Iranian officials, briefed on the order, including two members of the Revolutionary Guards. 

Khamenei gave the order at an emergency meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced that Haniyeh had been killed. 

Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of the assassination. Israel, which is at war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has neither acknowledged nor denied killing Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran's new president.  

Israel has a long history of killing enemies abroad, including Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders, according to the NYT. 

In its biggest and most overt attack on Israel, Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones in April in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its embassy compound that killed several Iranian military commanders in the Syrian capital of Damascus. 

(ANI)