The July 31 assassination of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in northern Tehran shocked Iran. The strike occurred just hours after Haniyeh met Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and newly installed President Masoud Pezeshkian. Khamenei vowed revenge.

Israel’s supporters lauded Haniyeh’s death. His assassination showed both Israel’s intelligence dominance and its ability to act precisely over vast distances. While analysts focus on how Israel pulled off the assassination and speculate about how Iran might retaliate, another question looms.