- Iranian Guards say Hamas leader slain by short-range projectile, blame Israel
- Iran arrests intel officers, military officials amid probe
Hamas’s slain leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran by a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kilograms, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says in a statement.
Tehran’s revenge for the attack will be “severe and [taken] at an appropriate time, place, and manner,” the statement says, blaming Israel — “the adventurous and terrorist Zionist regime” — for his death.
Following the assassination, Iran has launched extensive investigation, arresting dozens possibly connected, a New York Times report said Saturday.
Citing two sources familiar with the investigation, the NYT report said senior intelligence officers, military officials, and staff workers at a military-run guesthouse in Tehran where Haniyeh was assassinated, were detained.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) specialized intelligence unit has taken over the investigation, according to the NYT’s sources.
The assassination dealt a critical blow to Iran’s security apparatus, exposing severe vulnerabilities and indicating deep foreign intelligence penetration within the Islamic Republic, analysts told Al Arabiya English on Thursday, shortly after the shock attack.
The experts added that the assassination was a message to Iran and its allies and proxy groups; they are not beyond Israel’s reach, even in Tehran.
The Israeli Mossad spy agency had enlisted agents from within the Revolutionary Guards to plant explosives in the Tehran guesthouse where Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was staying, according to a Saturday article in The Telegraph.
Meanwhile, The New York Times had reported on Thursday that the explosion that killed Haniyeh and his bodyguard early Wednesday was set off by a sophisticated, remote-controlled bomb smuggled about two months ago into the Hamas leader’s room at the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying.
The report cited one American and seven Middle Eastern officials, including two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It contradicted earlier reports, including by the IRGC’s Tasnim news agency, that a missile had killed Haniyeh. It also cited officials from the United States and the Middle East as saying or assessing that Israel was behind the blast.
According to three Iranian officials cited by the Times of Israel, the assassination is a “tremendous embarrassment” for the IRGC, which runs the guesthouse where Haniyeh and other dignitaries were staying.
Haniyeh was in Tehran for the swearing-in of Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian. Jerusalem has neither confirmed nor denied the assassination, but Iran has vowed to exact revenge on Israel.
The IRGC officials cited by the Times of Israel noted that while the explosion shattered windows and collapsed a portion of the wall of the compound, there was minimal damage to the building itself. The New York Times said the limited scope of the damage was corroborated by photographs reviewed by the newspaper.
Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death since the explosion early Wednesday morning, though Iran and its proxies in the region, including Hamas, have vowed revenge on the Jewish state.
The NYT reported that after the attack, Iranian officials raided the guesthouse compound, which belongs to the IRGC, placed staff members under quarantine, arrested some, and confiscated all electronic devices, including personal phones.
Haniyeh reportedly frequented the guesthouse, and often used the same room, during his visits to Tehran.
At the guesthouse, CCTV footage was scanned thoroughly, guest lists were checked, and examined the day-to-day of personnel, the NYT report said, adding that they are operating under the belief that members of the Israeli Mossad who were involved in the assassination are still in country.
Another batch of investigators are reportedly scouring footage from Iran’s international and domestic airports, scanning arrival and departure lists and CCTV footage.
A member of the IRGC told the NYT that security protocols have changed, security personnel guarding senior officials have been swapped, and electronic equipment like phones have also been replaced.
Written with agency reports