Iran vows to avenge killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Washington DC

Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin has said the death of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran makes negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian group more difficult.

His comments – made to reporters during a meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday – came after the State Department and the White House earlier declined to comment on how the killing could affect the region.

Cardin acknowledged that Haniyeh was involved in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, saying his death “makes it much more challenging right now in regards to the hostage negotiations”.

“It makes a hot situation even hotter,” he added.

Cardin also reiterated that the United States had no advance knowledge of the killing of Haniyeh, which diplomats and the White House have also said.

He said the US didn’t have any specific information yet, so he couldn’t speak to the details while developments were still unfolding.

When asked by the BBC about Iran’s accusations that the US bears some responsibility for the attack – which Iran and Hamas have blamed on Israel – Cardin said he would not put a lot of confidence in what Iran says “being (anything) other than their own propaganda”.

Cardin also added that the US “would be very reluctant to get engaged in any type of complicity in any type of military operation into a sovereign country”.