KUALA LUMPUR – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has denied any involvement in the assassination of Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.
“I can’t tell you what this means. I can tell you that the imperative of getting a ceasefire, the importance that that has for everyone, remains,” he told Channel News Asia in Singapore.
“This is something we were not aware of or involved in,” he said, when asked about the killing.
“It’s very hard to speculate, and I’ve learned over many years never to speculate on the impact one event may have on something else.”
Haniyeh was in Tehran attending the inauguration of Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.
Meanwhile, Blinken reiterated the importance of securing a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel has waged war on the enclave for 10 months.
He added that Washington remains “manifestly in the interests” of the Israeli hostages and Gazans who have been “caught in this crossfire of Hamas’ making”.
“We’ve been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether it’s the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it’s the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it’s Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it.
“A big key to trying to make sure that that doesn’t happen, and that we can move to a better place, is getting the ceasefire.”
Hamas vowed the “cowardly” killing of Haniyeh “will not go unanswered”. – July 31, 2024