MEE Staff
Middle East Eye / August 1, 2024
Officials say bomb was reportedly smuggled into Iranian capital and detonated remotely, as Axis of Resistance meet to discuss possible retaliation.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated by an explosive device that was secretly smuggled into Tehran weeks ago, according to a report in The New York Times on Thursday.
Citing seven Middle Eastern officials and a US official, the report said a bomb had been hidden in a guesthouse in the capital run by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) around two months ago.
Haniyeh had stayed in the guesthouse on several occasions while visiting Tehran, according to the sources.
On Wednesday, after confirmation that Haniyeh was inside his room at the guesthouse, the bomb was detonated remotely, according to five of the officials. The blast also killed the Hamas political leader’s bodyguard.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the killing – it rarely comments on operations carried out abroad. However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Hamas have directly blamed Israel for the attack and promised revenge.
Israeli intelligence officials briefed the US and other western allies on the details of the operation in the aftermath, according to The New York Times. Washington has denied having any prior knowledge of the attack.
A funeral procession was held for Haniyeh in Tehran on Thursday.
Khamenei led the prayers over the coffins of the Hamas leader and his bodyguard at a ceremony at the University of Tehran.
Mourners waved Palestine flags and threw flowers on the coffins. Some chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America”.
Speakers at the procession included Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, IRGC chief Hossein Salami and Hamas deputy chief Khalil al-Hayya.
Haniyeh’s body will now be transferred to his home in Qatar, where he will be buried on Friday.
Axis of Resistance to discuss response
Iran and its allies in the region, known collectively as the Axis of Resistance, will meet in Tehran on Thursday to discuss possible retaliation for the assassination, according to Reuters.
Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Yemen’s Houthis, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups are due to attend, sources told Reuters.
Khamenei and senior members of the IRGC will also be present, an Iranian official said.
On Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Khamenei had ordered Iran to strike Israel directly in retaliation for Wednesday’s attack.
Mohammad Baqeri, Iran’s armed forces’ chief of staff, told Iranian state television: “How Iran and the resistance front will respond is currently being reviewed… This will certainly happen and the Zionist regime [Israel] will undoubtedly regret it.”
Israeli air force chief Tomer Bar warned that Israel would act against anyone planning to harm its citizens, adding that it was “strongly prepared in defence”.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah spoke for the first time since the death of Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, who was killed by an Israeli strike in Beirut on Tuesday night.
Nasrallah said that Shukr would quickly be replaced, as Hezbollah had enough commanders to fill the gap.
He added that war in the region had entered a “new phase” and that the only solution to the escalating tensions between Hezbollah and Israeli forces was to “end hostilities in Gaza”.
