Mournful Iranians bid final farewell to slain Hamas political chief, vow revenge

Mournful people from different walks of life in the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday held a funeral procession for Hamas Politburo Chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in an alleged Israeli attack a day before.

The ceremony officially began at 08:00 local time (0430 GMT) at the University of Tehran, where Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei led the funeral prayers for the Hamas political chief and his security guard, who was also killed in the same attack.

The funeral prayers were attended by many top Iranian commanders and officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, as well as a large number of mourners.

During the procession, a huge number of Iranians, including top officials and military commanders, accompanied the Hamas political leader's body from the University of Tehran to the iconic Azadi square in central Tehran, while chanting slogans in condemnation of Israel and the United States, holding pictures of Haniyeh and late General Qassem Soleimani, the top Iranian commander who was killed in an attack by the United States in Iraq in January 2020, and waving Iranian and Palestinian flags.

"It's absolutely wrong. They assassinated our dear guest in our own country," said Reyhaneh, a resident in Tehran.

"I demand the most severe and crushing response to this attack. A response that will prevent them from violating our territory again," said Fatemeh, a Tehran resident.

"Israel martyred our guest in our house. Israel should definitely expect a new operation from Iran," said Abolfazl, another Tehran resident.

At the end of the ceremony, which lasted four hours, the Iranians bade a final farewell to the Hamas political leader before the transfer of his body to the Qatari capital city of Doha to be laid to rest.

While a number of countries have strongly condemned the violation of Iranian airspace and blamed Israel for an act of terror, there are serious concerns that ceasefire negotiations to end Israel's war in Gaza are more fragile than ever. The world's eyes are closely monitoring events in Palestine and the wider region, as tensions also escalate between Israel and Lebanese group Hezbollah, and fears mount over Iran's expected retaliation.

Analysts believe the next steps taken by various resistance groups across the Middle East could play a crucial role in determining not only the future of Palestine, but the region as a whole.

Haniyeh, who had been invited to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the Iranian president on Tuesday, was killed along with his bodyguard early Wednesday when their residence in Tehran was hit.

Iran accused Israel of carrying out the assassination while Israel has yet to confirm its involvement.

Mournful Iranians bid final farewell to slain Hamas political chief, vow revenge

Mournful Iranians bid final farewell to slain Hamas political chief, vow revenge

Mournful Iranians bid final farewell to slain Hamas political chief, vow revenge

Mournful Iranians bid final farewell to slain Hamas political chief, vow revenge

A survey released by CGTN to global netizens shows that respondents strongly condemn the U.S.'s unilateral bullying of other countries under the pretext of "reciprocal tariffs," saying that this move may trigger countermeasures from other countries and eventually evolve into a "tariff world war," seriously impacting the world economy.

The U.S. claims that it has suffered losses in international trade and is raising tariffs on all trading partners under the pretext of "reciprocity," aiming to reduce the trade deficit. However, 81.03 percent of global respondents do not agree with this, believing that such measures will not achieve the expected results. During his first term in office, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on major trading partners. According to statistics from the American Action Forum, a think tank, Trump's protectionist policies during the first term cost U.S. consumers about 57 billion U.S. dollars annually. According to the survey, 81.94 percent of respondents believe that "reciprocal tariffs" cannot solve U.S.'s own problems but will only harm the interests of U.S. consumers and drag down the U.S. economic growth.

The competitiveness of products from different countries varies. Each country can set appropriate tariffs based on its own products to achieve "mutual benefit" in the international market. The "tariff farce" of the U.S. side is a selective disregard for the balance of interests reached through multilateral trade negotiations. Some 82.8 percent of the respondents point out that in the context of unequal economic development and economic strength of different countries, the U.S. insistence on full and complete reciprocity in tariffs is extremely irrational.

The majority of the U.S. tariffs this time are targeted at developing countries. Regarding this, 82.96 percent of the respondents condemn the U.S. for conducting "indiscriminate attacks" on other countries on the issue of tariffs, believing that this is a deprivation of the development rights of other countries, especially developing countries. According to the survey, 84.43 percent of the respondents believe that the U.S.'s imposition of "reciprocal tariffs" will exacerbate the problem of trade unfairness with its trading partners and traditional allies, seriously damaging the country's credibility.

As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. has unilaterally and subjectively introduced so-called "reciprocal tariffs" and insisted on implementing them. This is a typical act of unilateral bullying. In response, 79.47 percent of the respondents criticize the U.S. for seriously violating the rules of the WTO. In the survey, 79.58 percent of the respondents say that "reciprocal tariffs" have become a new tool for the U.S. to promote trade protectionism, which will further intensify international trade tensions and global economic fragmentation.

This survey was released on CGTN's English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian platforms. Within 24 hours, a total of 9,600 overseas netizens participated in the survey and expressed their views.

CGTN poll: US 'reciprocal tariffs' draw condemnation from world