Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a remote-controlled explosive device that was planted some two months earlier in the guesthouse where he was accustomed to stay when in Tehran, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The Lebanese Al-Mayadeen network, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, previously claimed that Wednesday’s assassination was “carried out by means of a missile launched from country to country, not from within Iran.”
The Times report, which cited Iranian, Middle Eastern and U.S. officials, did not elucidate how the explosive was smuggled into the building. Seven Middle Eastern officials told the paper that the planning of the killing likely took months and required extensive surveillance.
Iranian officials told the paper that the breach at the compound—which is used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for secret meetings and to lodge prominent visitors—was viewed as a “catastrophic” intelligence failure and a “tremendous” embarrassment” for the IRGC.
The Iranian officials, members of the IRGC, said the ingenuity of the bombing resembled the remote-operated machine gun that the Mossad allegedly used to kill nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Absard, around 44 miles east of Tehran, in 2020.
The officials noted that while Wednesday’s blast shattered windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, the building sustained minimal damage, indicating that no missile struck the compound.
The Israeli government has not taken responsibility for the attack that killed the Palestinian terrorist organization’s “political” leader and his bodyguard.
Iran and Hamas accused Jerusalem of the assassination of Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for the inauguration of the country’s president.
Thursday’s report cited regional officials as saying that Israeli officials “briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation in the immediate aftermath.”
In addition, several U.S. officials, who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity, were said to have reached the assessment that the Jewish state was responsible for Haniyeh’s assassination.
Asked about the report during a press briefing on Thursday night, Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said that “there was no additional aerial attack—not a missile and not an Israeli drone—in the Middle East that night and I won’t say anything beyond that.”
A report in The Jerusalem Post on Thursday stated that Haniyeh was viewed as an obstacle to closing a hostages-for-terrorists-and-ceasefire deal with Hamas and that his removal might bring an agreement closer.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on Israel following the assassination, the Times reported earlier this week.
Top Iranian officials were set to meet with representatives from the regime’s terrorist proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen on Thursday to discuss the retaliation against Israel, according to Reuters.
An extended meeting is expected to take place in Tehran, Iranian government media reported. The summit will reportedly be attended by representatives of the IRGC, including the Corps’ Quds Force, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, Ansar Allah (the Houthis) and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces militia.
