Members of Tehran University Council chant slogans to condemn the killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, shown in the picture, at the University, in Tehran, Iran, July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Hamas and Iranian media report terror leader killed in ‘strike’ on Tehran residence, but speculations differ on whether projectile came from within Iran or from outside its borders
Hours after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in a strike on a building in Tehran on Wednesday, there were scant details of what exactly killed him or how the attack was launched.
Although both Hamas and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps swiftly confirmed that Haniyeh was killed in a “strike” they blamed on Israel, neither provided further information and there appeared to be no photos released of the targeted building. There also did not appear to be any images posted to social media by members of the public.
Other than saying that Haniyeh’s bodyguard was also killed in the strike, there were no reports of other injuries or collateral damage.
The IRGC said it was investigating the circumstances and would release a full report later in the day.
Iran’s Fars news agency, similar to other local media, reported that Haniyeh was staying in a building for war veterans and that at 2 a.m. an “airborne guided projectile” hit the structure. An unnamed Iranian source told the Al-Madeeyan outlet that Haniyeh was killed by a missile and that it had been fired from outside Iran. The nearest borders to Tehran are those with Turkmenistan, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) away, and Azerbaijan, at around 300 kilometers (187.5 miles).
However, Israel’s Channel 12 later reported that Iranian officials were coming to the conclusion that the projectile was actually fired from within the country’s borders. According to the same report, which did not cite sources, Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah was staying in the same building on a different floor but was not targeted.
New York Times journalist Farnaz Fassihi, who heads the newspaper’s Iran desk, wrote on X that “Iranian officials are in utter shock over assassination of Haniyah, sources say, because it also delivers a huge blow to Iran’s security reputation at a time it wants to project power in the region.”
Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the Tuesday swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Israel has not commented on the assassination. Iran has threatened to respond, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowing “harsh punishment” and asserting Iran’s “duty to seek revenge,” and Pezeshkian saying Israel would “regret” killing Haniyeh.
Israel is widely suspected of running a years-long assassination campaign targeting Iranian nuclear scientists and others associated with its atomic program. Those incidents involved very precise operations that may have been carried out by local groups.
In one of the most high-profile incidents attributed to Israel, top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in November 2020 in a sophisticated hit led by a Mossad team that reportedly deployed a computerized machine gun, required no on-site operatives, took less than a minute, and did not injure anyone else, including the scientist’s wife who was with him at the time.
Blinken denies involvement
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was not involved in the assassination of Haniyeh, and reiterated the importance of a ceasefire in Gaza where Israel is warring against Hamas over its devastating October 7 attack on the country that killed 1,200 and saw 250 abducted as hostages to the coastal enclave.
“This is something we were not aware of or involved in. It’s very hard to speculate,” Blinken said in an interview with Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore.
“I’ve learned over many years never to speculate on the impact one event may have on something else,” Blinken said when asked what impact Haniyeh’s death might have on the war.
Blinken, who has been in Asia since late last week, said a ceasefire and the release of hostages being held in Gaza was crucial and the United States would do everything to make that happen.
“It’s vitally important to hopefully put things on a better path for more enduring peace and more enduring security, so that focus remains,” he said.
