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Haniyeh’s Death in Tehran Shows Iranian Role in Hamas’ Warfare
Iranian protesters carry a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a Yemeni flag as they burn an Israeli flag during an anti-US and anti-British protest in front of the British embassy in downtown Tehran, Iran, Jan. 12, 2024. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh spent the final hours before his assassination in a Tehran safehouse that belongs to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Haniyeh’s death in the Iranian capital underscores the depth of the relationship between Hamas and the clerical regime, whose funding, training, and equipment have proven indispensable to the Gaza terror group.
Nevertheless, the White House continues to focus on reducing tensions and negotiating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas without addressing Tehran’s role in directing its network of proxies to attack Israel on multiple fronts.
Haniyeh died the night of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration, attended by leaders representing the main proxies that comprise the Tehran regime’s “Axis of Resistance.” This included Hamas’ Haniyeh, the head of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, Hezbollah’s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem, and Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam from Yemen.
These men are all regular visitors to Tehran, and Iran does not hide its association with terrorist leaders, or its celebration of their efforts.
Masoud Pezeshkian may be a reformist compared to the ultra-hardliners within the clerical regime, but his election in no way signals a rejection of Tehran’s efforts to spread its revolutionary Islamist doctrine and eliminate the Jewish State.
Following Haniyeh’s death, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, declared it the regime’s duty to “take revenge.”
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our home, but it also prepared a harsh punishment for itself,” Khamenei said on his website.
The IRGC echoed Khamenei’s remarks, and claimed to have launched an investigation into the security breach that led to the assassination. The Houthis also vowed to take revenge in cooperation with the Axis of Resistance, hinting at a potential coordinated attack against Israel.
A major decision facing Tehran is whether to retaliate directly from its own soil, or rely on its proxies — which would reduce the odds of an Israeli counterstrike inside Iran’s borders.
The Islamic Republic has directly targeted Israel from its own territory only once, after an Israeli airstrike on Damascus this April killed top IRGC leaders responsible for operations in Syria and Lebanon. The Iranian regime launched approximately 331 projectiles toward Israel, including 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 surface-to-surface missiles. While most were fired from Iran, some originated in Iraq and Yemen.
Israel, the US, Jordan, and reportedly Saudi Arabia intercepted many of these projectiles, with Israeli officials reporting no casualties.
Tehran’s support for Hamas dates back to the 1980s. Throughout the years, Iran has provided the terrorist group with hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as training, weapons, and rockets. According to the US State Department, Iran provides about $100 million annually to Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas. By 2023, Israeli estimates were even higher, claiming Iran had increased its funding for Hamas to $350 million a year.
Hamas and Islamic Republic leaders frequently convene in Tehran, Damascus, and Beirut. In addition to Iran’s alleged role in orchestrating the October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis, since that day Iranian-backed militias across the region have been attacking Israel on multiple fronts under the Islamic Republic’s leadership.
On the northern front, Hezbollah has frequently launched missiles at Israeli territory and also deployed drones for surveillance and attacks. A recent Hezbollah rocket attack killed 12 children playing in a soccer field in northern Israel, marking the highest civilian death toll since October 7 and raising fears among US and European diplomats of an all-out war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The Houthis joined these efforts by launching missiles and UAVs at Israel, with one drone striking Tel Aviv after traveling roughly 1,730 miles from Sana’a. In Iraq, Iranian-backed militias, known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, claimed to have attacked a vital Israeli target in the Port of Eilat with several drones, stating they were supporting Hamas in Gaza.
US pressure for a ceasefire in the absence of any real measures to address Tehran and its proxies has been a prime policy objective, whereas this approach fails to offer a plan for preventing future Hamas violence if the group remains intact.
A day after Haniyeh’s death in Tehran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said reaching a ceasefire in Gaza “is the enduring imperative,” without addressing the Islamic Republic’s evident role in the process. Similarly, Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to finalize a ceasefire deal during his trip to D.C., while also suggesting that Israel has the right to defend itself — but without mentioning the threats posed by Iran-backed groups other than Hamas.
These pushes for de-escalation between Hamas and Israel do not take into account other proxies that also target Israel, as Hezbollah, the Houthis, and Iraqi militias could ramp up their attacks at Tehran’s behest. As pressure mounts from the US and the international community to reach a ceasefire, it is crucial to consider Iran’s role in ensuring the success or failure of an enduring agreement.
The Gaza conflict is but one front of a larger conflict involving various Iranian proxies. Any approach towards de-escalation must encompass the threats posed by other militia groups that are not bound by a Hamas ceasefire, and operate under Iran’s influence.
Janatan Sayeh is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on Iranian domestic affairs and the Islamic Republic’s regional malign influence.
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Syrian Leader al-Sharaa Holds Talks With Erdogan on Surprise Istanbul Visit
Ahmed al-Sharaa, Syria’s interim president, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, met during al-Sharaa’s first diplomatic trip since the fall of the al-Assad regime. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was holding talks with Syrian counterpart Ahmed al-Sharaa in Istanbul on Saturday, local media reported. No further details were available.
This comes one day after the US administration of President Donald Trump issued orders that it said would effectively lift sanctions on Syria in order to help the country rebuild after a devastating civil war.
The Treasury Department issued a general license that authorizes transactions involving the interim Syrian government led by Al-Sharaa, as well as the central bank and state-owned enterprises.
The general license, known as GL25, “authorizes transactions prohibited by the Syrian Sanctions Regulations, effectively lifting sanctions on Syria,” the Treasury said in a statement.
Syria welcomed the sanctions waiver early on Saturday, which the Foreign Ministry called a “positive step in the right direction to alleviate the country’s humanitarian and economic suffering.”
Syria is keen on cooperating with other countries “on the basis of mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. It believes that dialogue and diplomacy are the best path to building balanced relations,” the ministry said in a statement.
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‘It Was Just An Accident’ by Iran’s Jafar Panahi Wins Cannes’ Top Prize
Director Jafar Panahi, Palme d’Or award winner for the film “Un simple accident” (It Was Just an Accident), reacts, during the closing ceremony of the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 24, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Revenge thriller “It Was Just An Accident” by Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who was last at the Cannes Film Festival in person more than 20 years ago, won the Palme d’Or top prize on Saturday.
Panahi, who has been arrested several times for his filmmaking and was under a travel ban until recently, last attended the festival in person in 2003, when “Crimson Gold” was screened in the Un Certain Regard category.
“Art mobilizes the creative energy of the most precious, most alive part of us. A force that transforms darkness into forgiveness, hope and new life,” said jury president Juliette Binoche when announcing the award.
“It Was Just An Accident” follows Vahid, played by Vahid Mobasseri, who kidnaps a man with a false leg who looks just like the one who tortured him in prison and ruined his life.
Vahid sets out to verify with other prison survivors that it is indeed their torturer – and then decide what to do with him.
An emotional Panahi, wearing sunglasses on stage, thanked his cast and film crew during his acceptance speech.
The Grand Prix, the second-highest prize after the Palme d’Or, was awarded to “Sentimental Value” from acclaimed director Joachim Trier.
The jury prize was split between the intergenerational family drama “Sound of Falling” from German director Mascha Schilinski and “Sirat,” about a father and son who head into the Moroccan desert, by French-Spanish director Oliver Laxe.
Brazil’s “The Secret Agent” won two awards, one for best actor for Wagner Moura, as well as best director for Kleber Mendonca Filho.
“I was having Champagne,” said Mendonca Filho after he ran up to the stage to collect his award after celebrating Moura, who previously made a name for himself in hit TV series “Narcos.”
Newcomer Nadia Melliti took home best actress for “The Little Sister,” a queer coming-of-age story centered around the daughter of Algerian immigrants in Paris.
Belgium’s Dardenne brothers, who have the rare honor of already having won two Palme d’Or prizes, took home the award for best screenplay for their film “Young Mothers.”
Twenty-two films in total were competing for the prize at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, with entries from well-known directors Richard Linklater, Wes Anderson and Ari Aster.
Saturday’s closing ceremony officially ends the glamour-filled festival that began on May 13.
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Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump Admin From Revoking Harvard Enrollment of Foreign Students
US President Trump speaks to the media at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Washington, DC, April 21, 2025. Photo: Andrew Leyden/ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect
A US judge on Friday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, a policy the Ivy League school called part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to retaliate against it for refusing to “surrender its academic independence.”
The order provides temporary relief to thousands of international students who were faced with being forced to transfer under a policy that the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university called a “blatant violation” of the US Constitution and other federal laws, and said would have an “immediate and devastating effect” on the university and more than 7,000 visa holders.
“Without its international students, Harvard is not Harvard,” the 389-year-old school said in its lawsuit filed earlier on Friday in Boston federal court. Harvard enrolled nearly 6,800 international students in its current school year, equal to 27% of total enrollment.
The move was the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House, as Trump seeks to compel universities, law firms, news media, courts and other institutions that value independence from partisan politics to align with his agenda. Trump and fellow Republicans have long accused elite universities of left-wing bias.
Harvard has pushed back hard against Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. In recent weeks, the administration has proposed ending Harvard’s tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment, and opened an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.
Leo Gerden, a Swedish student set to graduate Harvard with an undergraduate degree in economics and government this month, called the judge’s ruling a “great first step” but said international students were bracing for a long legal fight that would keep them in limbo.
“There is no single decision by Trump or by Harvard or by a judge that is going to put an end to this tyranny of what Trump is doing,” Gerden said.
In its complaint, Harvard said the revocation would force it to retract admissions for thousands of people, and has thrown “countless” academic programs, clinics, courses and research laboratories into disarray, just a few days before graduation. It said the revocation was a punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint,” which it called a violation of the right to free speech as guaranteed by the US Constitution’s First Amendment.
The Trump administration may appeal US District Judge Allison Burroughs’ ruling. In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “unelected judges have no right to stop the Trump Administration from exercising their rightful control over immigration policy and national security policy.”
Since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, his administration has accused several universities of indifference toward the welfare of Jewish students during widespread campus protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Harvard’s court challenges over the administration’s policies stand in contrast to its New York-based peer Columbia University’s concessions to similar pressure. Columbia agreed to reform disciplinary processes and review curricula for courses on the Middle East, after Trump pulled $400 million in funding over allegations the Ivy League school had not done enough to combat antisemitism.
In announcing on Thursday the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, effective starting in the 2025-2026 academic year, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, without providing evidence, accused the university of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.”
Harvard says a fifth of its foreign students in 2024 were from China. US lawmakers from both parties have expressed concerns about the influence of the Chinese government on US college campuses, including efforts by Beijing-directed Chinese student associations to monitor political activities and stifle academic speech.
The university says it is committed to combating antisemitism and investigating credible allegations of civil rights violations.
HARVARD DEFENDS ‘REFUSAL TO SURRENDER’
In her brief order blocking the policy for two weeks, Burroughs said Harvard had shown it could be harmed before there was an opportunity to hear the case in full. The judge, an appointee of Democratic President Barack Obama, scheduled hearings for May 27 and May 29 to consider next steps in the case. Burroughs is also overseeing Harvard’s lawsuit over the grant funds.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said the administration was illegally seeking to assert control over the private university’s curriculum, faculty and student body.
“The revocation continues a series of government actions to retaliate against Harvard for our refusal to surrender our academic independence,” Garber wrote in a letter on Friday to the Harvard community.
The revocation could also weigh on Harvard’s finances. At many US universities, international students are more likely to pay full tuition, essentially subsidizing aid for other students.
“It is a privilege, not a right, for universities to enroll foreign students and benefit from their higher tuition payments,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Harvard’s bonds, part of its $8.2 billion debt pile, have been falling since Trump first warned US universities in March of cuts to federal funding.
International students enrolled at Harvard include Cleo Carney, daughter of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Princess Elisabeth, first in line to the Belgian throne.
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