Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated on July 31 in the Iranian capital of Tehran, shocking the global community. Reports indicate that the assassination device was a bomb secretly placed in his guest room.
According to sources familiar with the assassination operation, the bomb had been hidden about two months earlier inside the guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying in Tehran. It was remotely detonated when he entered the room.
The heavily guarded guesthouse is operated and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Haniyeh’s visit to Tehran was to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran’s new president. The successful bomb assassination operation indicates that the planners possessed powerful intelligence and operational capabilities within Iran and highlights significant lapses in protecting diplomatic personnel.
Iranian official media and Hamas had previously claimed that Haniyeh was killed by a rocket fired from outside the guesthouse.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that Haniyeh was killed by the bomb inside his room. The planners somehow infiltrated a building belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, identified the room designated for Haniyeh, and confirmed his presence before detonating the bomb.
The report quoted Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Washington-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, saying, “They were able to kill him at relatively close range. This will certainly let [Iran’s Supreme Leader] Khamenei see how deeply Mossad has penetrated their system.”
Mossad is Israel’s intelligence agency. An Israeli former senior intelligence official said the attack may have been planned over several months.
Sources told CNN that Israeli officials only informed their American counterparts about the assassination after it occurred.
The report from Al-Araby Al-Jadeed in London stated that Hamas official Khaled Qaddoumi in Iran refuted reports that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb in his room.
Qaddoumi insisted that the attack was carried out by aerial projectiles such as missiles or shells.
Iranian government and Hamas have accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed retaliation. Israel has neither confirmed nor denied its involvement in the operation so far.
However, on August 1, Israel announced that it had killed Hamas military organization’s secret leader Mohammed Deif in a July airstrike. Hamas has not commented on Israel’s latest actions.
The Pentagon stated on Friday that given the threats from Iran and its allies Hamas and Hezbollah, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has informed Israel of current and future changes in the deployment of U.S. troops in the Middle East.
The Pentagon added that Austin has not made a final decision on which forces to deploy. Officials told Reuters that various options, including aircraft and naval assets, are being considered.