Iran says Haniyeh was killed by a short-range projectile

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has accused Israel of killing Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh using a “short-range projectile” that was fired from outside his house in Tehran.

The military agency said the projectile weighed 7kg (16lbs) and caused a “huge explosion”, killing Haniyeh and his bodyguard. The leader of Hamas was visiting the capital of Iran for the inauguration of President Massoud Pezeshkian.

Officials also accused the US of supporting the plan. Israel has not commented on Haniyeh’s death.

The IRGC’s account contradicts Western media reports, which have suggested that explosives were planted at Haniyeh’s residence in Tehran by Israeli operatives.

The failure related to Haniyeh’s death, especially on a day marked by high security, caused embarrassment to Iran and the IRGC.

Dozens of IRGC officers have been arrested or fired in the days since Haniyeh’s death, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

This newspaper said that the intelligence unit of this organization is the one that initiated the investigation. Staff at Haniyeh’s guest house were questioned and their phones and other electronic devices confiscated, it added.

Meanwhile, the security details of Iranian politicians have been redacted. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led Haniyeh prayers on Thursday, but was dismissed after the event by his security detail.

Saturday’s IRGC statement came after Britain’s Daily Telegraph said Haniyeh was killed by bombs planted in his room by agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.

Citing Iranian officials, this newspaper said two Mossad agents entered the guest house and planted explosives in three rooms. The Iranians, who had been viewing CCTV footage of the operatives, said the pair then left the country before detonating the bombs outside Iran.

The New York Times also reported that Haniyeh was killed by explosives that were detonated in his room, saying they may have been planted two months earlier. The BBC could not confirm these claims.

But Hamas officials told the BBC earlier this week that Haniyeh had previously stayed at a guest house. He has visited Iran up to 15 times since he became head of the political bureau in 2017.

The paper’s reports would represent a major failure by the IRGC, which has long controlled the country’s internal security. Experts also say it will highlight the extent to which the Mossad can operate with impunity in Iran.

Regardless of how Haniyeh died, Iran and Hamas vowed revenge.

The IRGC said on Saturday that Israel would receive “severe punishment at the right time, place and in the right way”.

After an Israeli operation that killed IRGC Brig General Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Damascus earlier this year, Iran fired 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and at least 110 ballistic missiles at Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Israelis that “challenging days are ahead… We have heard threats from all sides. We are prepared for any situation”.

His ministers were sent home this weekend with satellite phones in case of an attack on the country’s communications infrastructure.

Despite the government’s warnings, the situation appeared to be relaxed on Tel Aviv’s beach, with bronze corpses littered with beach umbrellas.

But few doubt that the Middle East is dangerously close to full-scale war.

Israel is on high alert and several international airlines have suspended flights to the country.

The US has also sent more warships and warplanes to the Middle East to help protect Israel from possible attacks by Iran and its proxies, the Pentagon said.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned that the risk that the “deteriorating situation could rapidly deteriorate is increasing”.

Meanwhile, Israel said an airstrike in the West Bank killed a Hamas commander and four Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters on Saturday.

The Israeli military said an airstrike hit a vehicle while the men were on their way to attack.