Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Bomb Smuggled Into Iran Guesthouse Months Ago Killed Hamas Leader
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 4 months ago on
August 2, 2024

A photograph circulating on Telegram and among Iranian officials on Wednesday showing a damaged building northern Tehran, a guesthouse inside a compound run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. An explosive device hidden in a heavily guarded complex where Ismail Haniyeh was known to stay in Iran was what killed him, according to a New York Times investigation. (via The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Ismail Haniyeh, a top leader of Hamas, was assassinated Wednesday by an explosive device covertly smuggled into the Tehran, Iran, guesthouse where he was staying, according to seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians, and a U.S. official.

Where the Bomb Was Hidden

The bomb had been hidden approximately two months ago in the guesthouse, according to five of the Middle Eastern officials. The guesthouse is run and protected by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and is part of a large compound, known as Neshat, in an upscale neighborhood of northern Tehran.

In an image provided by Maxar Technologies, A July 25, 2024 satellite photo of a guesthouse inside a compound run by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in Tehran. This photo shows no visible damage or green tarp on the building, as can be seen in a photo circulating of the building after Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly assassinated there on July 31, 2024. (Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies via The New York Times)

Haniyeh was in Iran’s capital for the presidential inauguration. The bomb was detonated remotely, the five officials said, once it was confirmed that he was inside his room at the guesthouse. The blast also killed a bodyguard.

The explosion shook the building, shattered some windows and caused the partial collapse of an exterior wall, according to the two Iranian officials, members of the Revolutionary Guard briefed on the incident. Such damage was also evident in a photograph of the building shared with The New York Times.

Haniyeh, who had led Hamas’ political office in Qatar, had stayed at the guesthouse several times when visiting Tehran, according to the Middle Eastern officials. All of the officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details about the assassination.

Iranian officials and Hamas said Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the assassination, an assessment also reached by several U.S. officials who requested anonymity. The assassination threatened to unleash another wave of violence in the Middle East and upend the ongoing negotiations to end the war in the Gaza Strip. Haniyeh had been a top negotiator in the cease-fire talks.

Israel has not publicly acknowledged responsibility for the killing, but Israeli intelligence officials briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation in the immediate aftermath, according to the five Middle Eastern officials.

US Had No Advanced Knowledge

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States had received no advance knowledge of the assassination plot.

In the hours after the killing, speculation immediately focused on the possibility that Israel had killed Haniyeh with a missile strike, possibly fired from a drone or a plane, similar to how Israel had launched a missile on a military base in Isfahan, Iran, in April.

That missile theory raised questions about how Israel might have been able to evade Iranian air defense systems again to execute such a brazen airstrike in the capital.

As it turns out, the assassins were able to exploit a different kind of gap in Iran’s defenses: a lapse in the security of a supposedly tightly guarded compound that allowed a bomb to be planted and to remain hidden for many weeks before it would eventually be triggered.

Such a breach, three Iranian officials said, was a catastrophic failure of intelligence and security for Iran and a tremendous embarrassment for the Revolutionary Guard, which uses the compound for retreats, secret meetings and housing prominent guests such as Haniyeh.

How the bomb was stashed in the guesthouse remained unclear. The Middle Eastern officials said the planning for the assassination took months and required extensive surveillance of the compound. The two Iranian officials who described the nature of the assassination said they did not know how or when the explosives were planted in the room.

Assassination Outside of Qatar

Israel decided to carry out the assassination outside Qatar, where Haniyeh and other senior members of Hamas’ political leadership live. The Qatari government has been mediating the negotiations between Israel and Hamas over a cease-fire in Gaza.

The deadly blast early Wednesday shattered windows and collapsed a portion of the wall of the compound, photographs showed and the Iranian officials said. It appeared to do minimal damage beyond the building itself, as a missile probably would have done.

At around 2 a.m. local time, the device exploded, according to the Middle Eastern officials, including the Iranians. Startled building staff members, the officials said, ran to find the source of the tremendous noise, leading them to the room where Haniyeh was staying with a bodyguard.

The compound is staffed with a medical team which rushed to the room immediately after the explosion. The team declared that Haniyeh had died immediately. The team tried to revive the bodyguard, but he, too, was dead.

The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was staying next door, two of the Iranian officials said. His room was not badly damaged, suggesting precise planning in the targeting of Haniyeh.

Khalil al-Hayya, the deputy commander of Hamas in Gaza who was also in Tehran, arrived at the scene and saw his colleague’s body, according to the five Middle Eastern officials.

Among the people immediately notified, said the three Iranian officials, was Gen. Ismail Ghaani, the commander in chief of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the Revolutionary Guard, which works closely with Iranian allies in the region, including Hamas and Hezbollah. He notified Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the middle of the night, waking him up, the officials said.

Four hours after the blast, the Revolutionary Guard issued a statement that Haniyeh had been killed. By 7 a.m., Khamenei had summoned the members of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to his compound for an emergency meeting, at which he issued an order to strike Israel in retaliation, according to the three Iranian officials.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Ronen Bergman, Mark Mazzetti and Farnaz Fassihi/Arash Khamooshi
c.2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

$165 Billion Revenue Error Continues to Haunt California’s Budget

DON'T MISS

California’s Water Crisis Deepens as San Joaquin Valley Sinks

DON'T MISS

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

DON'T MISS

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

DON'T MISS

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

DON'T MISS

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

DON'T MISS

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

DON'T MISS

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

DON'T MISS

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

DON'T MISS

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

UP NEXT

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

UP NEXT

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

UP NEXT

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

UP NEXT

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

UP NEXT

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

UP NEXT

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

UP NEXT

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

UP NEXT

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

UP NEXT

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

UP NEXT

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

12 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

12 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

13 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

13 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

13 hours ago

Ohtani Makes History With 3rd MVP, Judge Claims 2nd AL Honor

14 hours ago

Trump Chooses Pam Bondi for Attorney General Pick After Gaetz Withdraws

14 hours ago

Average Rate on a 30-Year Mortgage in the US Rises to Highest Level Since July

14 hours ago

Cutting in Line? American Airlines’ New Boarding Tech Might Stop You at Now Over 100 Airports

15 hours ago

MLB Will Test Robot Umpires at 13 Spring Training Ballparks Hosting 19 Teams

15 hours ago

$165 Billion Revenue Error Continues to Haunt California’s Budget

History will — or at least should — see a $165 billion error in revenue estimates as one of California’s most boneheaded political act...

54 minutes ago

54 minutes ago

$165 Billion Revenue Error Continues to Haunt California’s Budget

Photo of Friant-Kern Canal
2 hours ago

California’s Water Crisis Deepens as San Joaquin Valley Sinks

11 hours ago

What to Know About Pam Bondi, Trump’s New Pick for Attorney General

12 hours ago

North Korean Leader Says Past Diplomacy Only Confirmed US Hostility

12 hours ago

Democrats Strike Deal to Get More Biden Judges Confirmed Before Congress Adjourns

13 hours ago

Newsom Gaslights on Potential Gas Price Hikes in Fresno Visit

President Joe Biden with Mary Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, at the Detroit Auto Show, Sept. 14, 2022. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to erase the Biden administration’s tailpipe rules designed to get carmakers to produce electric vehicles, but most U.S. automakers want to keep them. (Doug Mills/The New York Times)
13 hours ago

Automakers to Trump: Please Require Us to Sell Electric Vehicles

13 hours ago

President Biden Welcomes 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics to White House

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend