Regional
Iran says Hamas leader Haniyeh was killed by short-range projectile
Wednesday’s assassination has aroused fears of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Saturday that Palestinian militant group Hamas’ leader Ismail Haniyeh was slain in Tehran by a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kg, and vowed severe revenge, Reuters reported.
Wednesday’s assassination has aroused fears of direct conflict between Tehran and its arch-enemy Israel in a region shaken by Israel’s war in Gaza and a worsening conflict in Lebanon.
Revenge for the killing of the Hamas leader will be “severe and at an appropriate time, place, and manner”, the Guards’ statement added, blaming the “terrorist Zionist regime” of Israel for his death.
Iran and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran’s new president.
The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the explosion which killed Haniyeh was a bomb that was covertly smuggled into the guesthouse where he was staying in Tehran two months ago.
Israeli officials have not claimed responsibility, read the report.
The statement by the elite Guards force also accused the “criminal U.S. government” of supporting the attack which Iranian media said was in a northern suburb of Tehran.
Haniyeh was buried on Friday in Qatar, where he was based.
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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in Iran, Hamas says
Regional
Iran alerts UN to Trump threat of force, says it will defend itself
Iravani urged the U.N. Security Council to condemn Trump’s brazen rhetoric.

Iran alerted the United Nations on Tuesday to what it described as “reckless and inflammatory statements” by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the use of force, and warned that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences.”
In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani referenced remarks made by Trump in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News, in which he spoke of a preference to do a deal to stop Tehran getting a nuclear weapon over bombing the country, Reuters reported.
“These reckless and inflammatory statements flagrantly violate international law and the U.N. Charter,” Iravani wrote to the 15-member council.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran warns that any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the U.S. will bear full responsibility,” he said. “Iran will resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests against any hostile action.”
Trump last week restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also said he was open to a deal and expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, read the report.
Pezeshkian on Monday questioned the United States’ sincerity, while Iravani wrote in his letter that the U.S. policy “reinforces unlawful, unilateral coercive measures and escalates hostility against Iran.”
Iravani urged the U.N. Security Council to condemn Trump’s “brazen rhetoric.”
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December.
Regional
Egypt to host emergency Arab summit to discuss ‘serious’ Palestinian developments
Trump’s suggestion, made at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Trump’s suggestion, made at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, infuriated the Arab world, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia — key allies of Washington.
Regional
Iran leader Khamenei meets top Hamas leaders in Tehran, state TV says
The delegation, which also included Mohammad Darwish, head of Hamas’ leadership council, and top Hamas official Nizar Awadallah, presented Khamenei a report on the current situation in Gaza.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with acting Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and two other leaders of the Palestinian group in Tehran on Saturday, Iranian state TV reported.
“You defeated the Zionist regime [Israel], which was in fact America’s defeat,” Khamenei, whose country supports Hamas in its war with Israel, told the Palestinian delegation. “You did not allow them to achieve any of their goals.”
Iranian TV said the Palestinian leaders were in Tehran to congratulate Khamenei on the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution. They expressed gratitude for Iran’s continued support.
The delegation, which also included Mohammad Darwish, head of Hamas’ leadership council, and top Hamas official Nizar Awadallah, presented Khamenei a report on the current situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and “the victories and successes that were achieved”.
“We come to meet with you today with pride,” the TV quoted al-Hayya as telling Khamenei.
Khamenei said U.S. threats against Iran “have no effect on the mindset of our nation,” the Iranian media said.
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