Huge crowds have filled the streets of Tehran for the mass funeral of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, who was assassinated in Iran’s capital.

Iran’s supreme leader and representatives of Palestinian militias led the prayers over the coffins of Haniyeh and his bodyguard who were killed in an airstrike blamed on Israel early on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed “severe punishment” for Israel and said avenging Haniyeh’s death was “Tehran’s duty”, while Israel has stayed silent.

Mourners wept, threw flowers at the coffins and chanted “death of Israel” as the bodies were moved through the city towards Azadi Square.

The remains of Haniyeh, who became the face of Hamas’s international diplomacy, will be transferred to Qatar for burial on Friday.

His death, which swiftly followed an Israeli strike on Beirut that is believed to have killed a senior Hezbollah commander, has risked escalating the Middle East crisis into regional war.

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