IRGC vows response to Israeli assassination of Haniyeh as speculation mounts

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Sunday that the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran was a blatant violation of the United Nations Charter, and warned that Israel would receive a response for its act at the appropriate time.

IRGC spokesman Ali Mohammad Naeini made the remarks at a ceremony marking National Journalists' Day in the central province of Qom on Sunday.

Haniyeh, the Hamas politburo chief, was assassinated in an Israeli operation in the Iranian capital Tehran on July 31, hours after he attended the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian.

As speculation about the timing of the Iranian response mounts, Iran's official news agency said Sunday that the IRGC is holding a series of military drills in western parts of the country that will continue until Tuesday.

According to Israeli media reports on Monday, the latest Israeli intelligence indicates that Iran intends to launch a large-scale attack sometime this week, possibly before Thursday.

Meanwhile, tensions also remain high in Lebanon following Israel's July 30 attack on a southern suburb of Beirut, which killed senior Hezbollah military commander Fouad Shokor and seven others. Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah has vowed a decisive and painful response.

After Israeli strikes killed two more Hezbollah members in southern Lebanon on Sunday, Hezbollah responded by firing several Katyusha rockets at a military base in northern Israel on Monday morning.

Israeli forces struck the source areas of the latest rocket attack in Lebanon, according to Israeli media.

Soaring tensions in the region has prompted military moves from the United States, as the country's defense department has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the Middle East and has sent the USS Georgia nuclear submarine to the region.

IRGC vows response to Israeli assassination of Haniyeh as speculation mounts

U.S. stocks ended lower on Wednesday, after the Federal Reserve announced a 0.5-percentage-point interest rate cut.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 103.08 points, or 0.25 percent, to 41,503.1. The Standard and Poor's 500 sank 16.32 points, or 0.29 percent, to 5,618.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index shed 54.76 points, or 0.31 percent, to 17,573.3.

Nine of the 11 primary Standard and Poor's 500 sectors ended in red, with utilities and technology leading the laggards by losing 0.77 percent and 0.51 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, energy and communication services led the gainers by rising 0.25 percent and 0.02 percent, respectively.

The U.S. Fed cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday, bringing the benchmark rate to a range of 4.75 percent to 5 percent, the first rate cut in four years.

In its policy statement, the Fed said that the decision reflected "greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably towards two percent" and that the central bank "judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance."

Following the cut on Wednesday, U.S. stocks experienced volatile trading, swinging between gains and losses throughout the session.

US stocks close lower on Wednesday following Fed rate cut