Hassan Nasrallah meanwhile was the leader of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah - he was assassinated in Beirut in September as Israel dramatically escalated its military campaign against Hezbollah, with which it had been trading near daily cross-border fire since the day after the 7 October attacks.

Iran denounced what it termed Israel's "brazen admission" of having killed former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran earlier this year, accusing the country of having carried out a "heinous crime" and defending its missile-strike response.

Just like we did to Haniyeh, Sinwar and Nasrallah in Tehran, Gaza and Lebanon, we will do in Hodeida and Sanaa,” he said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders killed in previous Israeli attacks.