Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct Iranian strike on Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran.according to the New York Times.

Khamenei gave the order at his emergency meeting Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Wednesday morning, shortly after Iran announced that Haniya had been killed, the NYT three Iranian officials, including two members of the Revolutionary Guards.

Iran and Hamas blame Israel for the assassination. Israel, until now, has neither confirmed nor denied that it is responsible for the assassination of Haniya, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of the new president of Iran. Israel has a long history of killing enemies abroad, which includes Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders.

In the 10 months of the Gaza war, Iran has put pressure on Israel with attacks through allied and Iranian-backed groups in the region, while avoiding an all-out war between the two states.

In April, Iran launched its biggest direct attack on Israel in decades, launching hundreds of missiles and drones in retaliation for an Israeli strike on its embassy that killed several Iranian military commanders in Damascus, Syria. But even this show of force was announced well in advance, and the attack was intercepted by Israel and its allies without causing much damage.

At the present time it is unclear how forcefully Iran will respond and whether it will once again launch a limited offensive to avoid escalation. Iranian military commanders are considering a combined drone and missile attack on military targets in the Tel Aviv and Haifa area, but would like to avoid strikes on civilian targets, Iranian officials said. Another option being considered is a coordinated attack by Iran and other fronts of its allied forces, including Yemen, Syria and Iraq, they said.

Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state and is also the head of the armed forces, instructed the military commanders of the Revolutionary Guards and the army to prepare plans for both offense and defense in the event that the war extended and Israel or the United States strike Iran, the officials said.

In his public statement on Haniya’s death, Khamenei noted that Iran would retaliate directly, saying, “Iran has a duty to avenge his blood” because it happened on Islamic Republic soil. He said Israel had prepared the groundwork to receive “a severe punishment”.

Statements by other Iranian officials, including the new president, Massoud Pezheskian, the Foreign Ministry, the Guards and Iran’s mission to the UN, also openly stated that Iran would retaliate against Israel and that it had the right to defend itself against the violation of his sovereignty.

Iran and the regional powers it supports — Hamas, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and several militias in Iraq — constitute the “axis of resistance.” The leaders of these groups were in Tehran for Pezeskian’s inauguration on Tuesday. Haniya was assassinated at about 2 a.m. local time after attending the ceremony and meeting with Khamenei.

The killing shocked Iranian officials, who described it as crossing red lines.

It was a humiliating breach of security for a country eager to project its power, yet plagued by its inability to prevent Israel from carrying out covert operations on its soil. The embarrassment was compounded by Haniya’s leadership profile, the presence of other allies, and the fact that he was attacked at a high-security Revolutionary Guards guesthouse on a day of heightened security in the capital.