Iranians mourn Hamas leader Haniyeh's assassination with funeral in Tehran

Iranians turned out to mourn Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh on Thursday, a day after he was assassinated in Iran's capital in an attack that has heightened fears of a direct conflict between Tehran and Israel.

State TV broadcast live images of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leading prayers at Haniyeh's funeral at Tehran University, where thousands of mourners dressed in black chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

His body will be flown to Qatar, where Haniyeh was usually based, for burial on Friday.

"Rest in peace, Abu Al-Abed Ismail Haniyeh. Our nation, Iran, the Axis of Resistance, your people, your fighters ... are united in the choice of resistance to end the Zionist occupation," said Hamas deputy chief in Gaza Khalil Al-Hayya in a televised speech at Tehran University.

The Axis of Resistance is an alliance built over four decades of Iranian support to resist Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.

Iran and the Palestinian militant group have accused Israel of carrying out the strike that killed Haniyeh hours after he attended the inauguration of Iran's new president in Tehran on Wednesday.

But Israeli officials have yet to claim responsibility for the attack that has sparked concerns over an escalation of tensions in the region, as as well as a stalling of ceasefire talks for Gaza.

The Israeli army has killed at least 39,480 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 7, and has killed over 500 Lebanese, mostly Hezbollah fighters and at least 100 civilians, including journalists.

'Major repercussions'

Hamas' armed wing has said in a statement Haniyeh's killing would "take the battle to new dimensions and have major repercussions". Vowing to retaliate, Iran declared three days of national mourning on Wednesday and said the U.S. bore responsibility because of its support for Israel.

"All fronts of the resistance will take revenge for Haniyeh's blood," Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. .

The Axis includes Hamas, the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen and various Shia armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

The region faces a risk of widened conflict between Israel, Iran and its proxies after Haniyeh's assassination and the killing of Hezbollah's senior commander on Tuesday in an Israeli strike on the outskirts of the Lebanese capital Beirut, which also killed three women and two young children.

"We want revenge because Israel killed Haniyeh, who was our guest," an Iranian woman, who attended a rally after the ceremony at Tehran University, told state TV.