Why Iran and Hezbollah have not yet responded to Israel's assassinations

A tongue-in-cheek jab is circulating among Arab diplomats that no country in the region may be more eager for the US’s flagging efforts to secure a Gaza ceasefire to succeed than its foe, Iran.

“Iran desperately wants an off-ramp,” an Arab diplomat from the Gulf told Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity. 

US and Arab officials believe if a ceasefire is reached it would lower regional tensions, giving Iran and its allies space to back down from their vows to avenge a pair of Israeli assassinations that have pushed the region to the brink. 

Hezbollah and Iran both pledged to retaliate for the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

But with ceasefire talks flailing and more than three weeks having passed since the killings, some wonder if Iran will respond at all.

“The language coming out of Iran suggests it is trying to dodge this,” Mohanad Hage Ali, deputy director of research at the Carnegie Center in Beirut, told MEE.

Read more: Why Iran and Hezbollah have not yet responded to Israel's assassinations