TEHRAN – The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) marked the second anniversary of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran with a fiery statement Sunday, pledging “harsh and devastating” retribution against Israel and dismissing U.S.-led efforts to disarm the Palestinian resistance movement.
Haniyeh was martyred on July 31, 2024, while attending the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.  
In its statement, the IRGC characterized the assassination as “a monumental crime and a gross violation of the principles and norms of international law, national sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran”. 
The IRGC emphasized that Haniyeh had been in Tehran as an official guest to attend the presidential inauguration when he was assassinated.
The IRGC also referenced the assassination of Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in its statement, asserting that “revenge for the blood of the martyr, the Leader of the Revolution, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and the martyr Ismail Haniyeh is certain” and “the response to these great crimes will be harsh and devastating.”
“The assassination of martyr Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran – while he was an official guest at the inauguration ceremony of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran – was a monumental crime and a gross violation of the principles and norms of international law, national sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” read a portion of the statement.
The IRGC added: “Two years have passed since the Zionist regime’s crime in assassinating Sheikh Ismail Haniyeh, and with the continuation of genocide and the increase of the Zionists’ medieval crimes in Gaza, the expansion of war and crime to southern Lebanon, and then the beginning of the second and third imposed wars with the accompaniment of the vile and demonic president of America and that country’s terrorist army against the Islamic Republic of Iran, today more than ever, the terrorist and criminal nature of this regime has become clear to everyone.”
The statement said that “the continued comprehensive military and political support of America and some other Western countries, as well as the complicity and collaboration of reactionary regional
 governments with this regime, has made them partners in the committed crimes and reminds and emphasizes their international responsibility for the genocide and war crimes of the Zionist regime.”
The IRGC described “the intermingling of the pure bloods of Iranian and Palestinian martyrs in the path of liberating the Holy Quds and defending Islamic ideals” as guaranteeing “the sacred unity of Muslims against the arrogant powers.”
“Today, the discourse of anti-domination and anti-Zionist resistance has achieved unprecedented dynamism and influence in the international arena,” the statement said. 
“The roaring waves of awakening and support for the oppressed Palestinian nation across the world, in the form of widespread protests and condemnations of the crimes of the Zionist regime, indicate that the world’s awakened consciences will not be deceived by the deceptive propaganda of the false claimants of human rights.”
The IRGC stressed that “the path of martyr Haniyeh is the path of honor, dignity, and freedom, and this path will continue until the full realization of Palestine’s aspirations and the annihilation of the usurpers of the Holy Quds.”
“We promise the peoples of the world that the honor of the anti-Zionist resistance is unassailable and, by divine grace, the final victory of Palestine against the occupiers is closer than what the enemies imagine,” the statement read.