The leader of the political wing of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a bomb planted in a guest house where he was staying in Tehran. It was secretly brought to the territory of the complex two months ago.
The New York Times writes about this with reference to sources.
The guest house is run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and is part of the large Neshat complex in an elite area of northern Tehran. There is increased security.
According to the newspaperʼs sources, the leader of the Hamas political office in Qatar stayed at this guest house several times during his visits to Tehran.
Ismail Haniyeh was in his room when the bomb was detonated remotely. Both he and his bodyguard died. Due to the explosion, the windows were blown out, the outer wall collapsed.
In the hours after the explosion, there were speculations that Israel had killed Haniya with a missile strike or a drone strike. However, such a theory raised questions about how Israel could avoid Iranʼs air defense systems.
However, for the murder, the perpetrators took advantage of another gap in Iranʼs defense — a failure in the security of the complex in which the bomb was planted. It remained unnoticed for many weeks. Exactly how it was carried and laid is unknown.
Iranian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was a catastrophic failure for Iranʼs intelligence and security forces and a major embarrassment for IRGC guards, who use the complex for secret meetings and to host important guests such as Haniyeh.
Tehran was already under increased security due to the inauguration of Iranʼs new president Massoud Pezeshkian. The ceremony was attended by high-ranking government officials and military commanders from 86 countries.
- Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on July 31. He came to the inauguration of the new president of Iran Massoud Pezeshkian. Hamas blamed Israel for the killing, but Israel and its army have not officially commented on this.
- In response to Haniyehʼs murder, Iranʼs Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei ordered a direct strike on Israel, the NYT writes. However, Khamenei publicly promised to take revenge for Haniya, since he died on the territory of Iran.