The most frequently used words in the Iranian media's coverage of the deadly attack on Hamas's Political Leader Ismail Haniyeh's residence in north Tehran were "revenge" and "infiltration."
The call for "revenge for Haniyeh's blood" was made by nearly all of Tehran's hardline media including the state television, the Kayhan newspaper close to Khamenei's office and Hamshahri, the mouthpiece of the Tehran Municipality.
Proreform media outlets, on the other hand, have mainly blamed infiltrators working for Israel for the attack and called on the intelligence agencies to identify and punish them.
The biggest headline on the state TV's daily newspaper Jam-e Jam on Thursday was "Order for taking revenge," which alluded to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's order demanding a direct attack on Israel.
Hamshahri's headline said that "All of Iran calls for revenge." The daily quoted Khamenei as saying that he sees taking revenge for Haniyeh as his responsibility.
The Kayhan, linked to to Khamenei's office said in a commentary that "Iran as the host should take revenge for its guest Haniyeh." Meanwhile, the daily's firebrand editor in chief Hossein Shariatmadari called on the Iran armed forces to launch attacks on the US base in Ain al-Asad in Iraq as well as on US vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. Shariatmadari called on Iranian officials "not to cross out the United States' name from their revenge list," while also calling for immediate and hard revenge.
He further suggested that Iranian officials should not waste any time waiting for a decision by the UN Security Council, and instead, give a paralyzing blow to Israel. Furthermore, the Kayhan said that the main culprit behind the attack on Haniyeh was the United States and that Israel could have not made the decision to kill Haniyeh without US support. He concluded that the United States should be one of the main targets of the Islamic Republic's "hard revenge".
Shariatmadari further said: "Tens of US strategic and military centers are within the range of Iranian weapons. Ain al-Assad was only an example. The US 5th fleet in Bahrain as well as its vessels in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman can be Ira's other targets.
Proreform Rouydad24 quoted Mansoor Hagqiqatpoor, a former lawmaker close to former Majles Speaker Ali Larijani and a former deputy to Qasem Soleimani the former commander of the IRGC Qods Force, called for the removal of some of Iran's political, military and security officials from their posts. He said, "from a security perspective, the attack on Haniyeh's residence in Tehran was unacceptable and an investigation needs to be launched into the matter."
Meanwhile, Haqiqatpoor criticized Iran's responses to previous Israeli attacks as insufficiently deterrent. He added that the assassination of Haniyeh, who was a guest of the government, reflects poorly on the performance of Iran's security organizations. He emphasized that no place in Israel should remain safe after this attack and called for coordinated missile strikes on Israel by all Muslim states.
Many Iranian proreform and moderate conservative media outlets pointed out the possibility of Israeli infiltration of the Iranian security and intelligence organizations. Foreign Policy analyst Hassan Beheshtipour wrote on Nameh News website that "the roots of infiltration should be identified and dealt with." Beheshtipour told Nameh News that Israeli infiltration in Iran is widespread.
He suggested that Iran should launch a surprise attack on Israel but cautioned against falling into Netanyahu's trap by escalating regional tensions. He emphasized that Iran can still pursue negotiations with the West to resolve its nuclear issues while simultaneously confronting Israel.