Haniyeh assassinated by ‘short-range projectile’: IRGC
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said Saturday that Israel assassinated Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” launched from outside of his accommodation in Tehran.
“This terrorist operation was carried out by firing a short-range projectile with a warhead of about 7 kilograms – causing a strong explosion – from outside the accommodation area,” the IRGC said in a statement.
It added that Israel was “supported by the United States” in the attack.
Tehran’s revenge for the attack will be “severe and (taken) at an appropriate time, place, and manner,” said the statement, which blamed Israel – “the adventurous and terrorist Zionist regime” – for his
assassination.
Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, was killed along with his bodyguard, in a dawn attack on July 31.
The New York Times in a report claimed that Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying.
Citing seven Middle Eastern officials, the American daily claimed that the bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse. The guesthouse is run and protected by the IRGC and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.
However, an informed source in Iran has rejected the New York Times’ report, saying that it is full of lies.
No planted bomb
The source told Tasnim News Agency that initial assessment of the site of the explosion and body of Hamas leader indicates that the explosion was not caused by a planted explosive device.
The source said that the latest findings show that a projectile penetrated into the building from the outside by a drone or another carrier and caused the explosion. So, not a bomb or human were involved in the assassination, but modern technologies were used in the terror
act.
Iran has vowed revenge for the assassination, with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei warning the Israeli regime of a “harsh response.”
In a statement after the incident, Ayatollah Khamenei said that it was the Islamic Republic’s duty to avenge the Palestinian resistance leader’s blood.
“The criminal and terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our homeland and left us bereaved, but it also set the ground for a harsh punishment for itself,” the Leader said.
Iran’s Acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani has also said that Iran will use its legitimate and inherent right to punish the Israeli regime.