Three senior officials in Iran told the Reuters news agency that only a cease-fire agreement could delay the response to the assassination of the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. A senior security official said that "Iran and its ally Hezbollah will carry out a direct attack against Israel if the negotiations fail, or if Israel continues to drag it out." However, the officials did not say how long "they will allow" the negotiations to continue.