Aug 04 (Jowhar.com) – Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said that a “close-up” missile was dropped from a location not far from a guest house in Tehran.
Iran’s military said the missile weighed 7kg (16lbs) and caused a “strong explosion”, killing Haniyeh and his bodyguards last Wednesday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has accused Israel of planning and carrying out the operation, but Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death.
A British newspaper called the Daily Telegraph reported that Haniyah was killed by bombs that were placed in his room by representatives of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.
Iran dismissed the reports as false. Citing Iranian officials, the newspaper said that two Mossad agents entered the guest house and planted explosives in three rooms.
Iranians who watched CCTV footage of the activists said the two then left the country before detonating the bombs outside Iran.
The New York Times also reported that Haniyeh was killed by explosives in his room, saying that he was buried two months ago. The BBC has not been able to confirm these claims.
But Hamas officials told the BBC earlier this week that Haniyeh had previously stayed at the same guesthouse. He has made about 15 visits to Iran since becoming head of the political bureau in 2017.
The Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian government have been described as failing to provide security.Dozens of Revolutionary Guard officers were arrested and put on strike as reported by the New York Times.
Regardless of how Haniyeh died, both Iran and Hamas have vowed revenge.The IRGC said on Saturday that Israel would receive “severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner”.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese political group, has also vowed to retaliate. One of their top commanders, Fu’ad Shukr, was killed in an attack by Israel last Tuesday.
After an Israeli operation killed IRGC Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi earlier this year, Iran fired 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and at least 110 ballistic missiles towards Israel.
