Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the Biden administration was not informed in advance about any plans to eliminate Ismail Haniyeh, political leader of the Hamas terrorist organization.
Haniyeh was killed in Iran on Tuesday in an operation widely attributed to Israeli intelligence, although no public claim of responsibility has been made. Before his ill-fated trip to attend the inauguration of “moderate” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Tehran, Haniyeh lived lavishly in Qatar, his accounts filled with loot skimmed from international aid to the Palestinian people.
“This is something we were not aware of or involved in,” Blinken said during an interview with Channel News Asia (CNA) in Singapore.
Blinken said talks for a ceasefire in Gaza would continue despite the liquidation of Haniyeh. He said it was “very hard to speculate” about the effect Haniyeh’s death would have on negotiations.
“We will continue to labor for as long as it takes to get there,” he vowed:
It’s vitally important to help end the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. It’s vitally important to get the hostages home, including a number of Americans. It’s vitally important to, hopefully, put things on a better path for more enduring peace and more enduring security, so that focus remains, and, again, speculating on the impact of any one event, I’ve learned, is not a not a wise thing to do.
Blinken added that one of the administration’s top priorities is “trying to make sure that the conflict that emerged in Gaza doesn’t spread, doesn’t go to other places, doesn’t escalate.”
“The best way to bring temperature down everywhere and to put us on a better path is through a ceasefire in Gaza,” he asserted.
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Blinken should be having that discussion with the vicious Iran-backed terrorist gangs that surround Israel on all sides. If the Biden administration asked Lebanese Hezbollah to “bring the temperature down,” for example, its request was clearly ignored when Hezbollah lobbed a missile into a playground full of children on Sunday.
The Biden administration’s negotiating partners in Iran do not appear to be convinced by Blinken’s denials of involvement in Haniyeh’s death. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it holds the U.S. government responsible for the killing of the Hamas leader.
Pezeshkian, the “moderate” who emerged as the winner of Iran’s rigged presidential election in July, hailed Haniyeh as a hero on Wednesday and vowed bloody revenge for his death.
“Iran is mourning the martyrdom of the brave leader of the Palestinian Resistance, Ismail Haniyeh. Yesterday, I raised his victorious hand, and, today, I have to carry his coffin on my shoulders,” Pezeshkian said.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will defend its territorial integrity and honor and would make the terrorist occupiers regret their cowardly action,” he threatened.
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