"Short-range projectile"... The Iranian Guard reveals the results of the investigation into Haniyeh's assassination and reports of widespread arrests

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced on Saturday that technical investigations show that the assassination of the head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), Ismail Haniyeh, was carried out with a projectile weighing 7.5 kilograms, while the New York Times reported the arrest of senior officers.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard added in a statement that the operation was carried out by launching a short-range projectile from outside Haniyeh’s residence, noting that the place is a residence for foreign guests and is subject to all security protocols.

The statement stressed that Israel stands behind the implementation and planning of the operation despite its silence, and there is no doubt about that, pointing out that Tel Aviv sought, through the assassination operation in Tehran, to cause strife in the Islamic world and the resistance front.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard vowed to avenge Haniyeh, saying that his blood would not be in vain and Israel would receive severe punishment for this crime.

Last Wednesday, Hamas and Iran announced the assassination of Haniyeh, with an Israeli air strike targeting his residence in Tehran, the day after his participation in the inauguration ceremony of President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Massive arrests

The American New York Times reported, citing informed Iranian sources, that the Iranian authorities carried out “large-scale arrests” against the backdrop of the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), last Wednesday.

A report by the newspaper stated that more than 20 people were arrested, including “senior intelligence officers, military officials, and employees of the army-run guest house in northern Tehran,” adding that security protocols for senior officials had been amended over the past two days.

The newspaper's report, quoting Iranian officials who refused to mention their names, explained that the intelligence unit specializing in espionage affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard "took over the investigation into the incident and is pursuing the suspects in the hope that they will lead it to members of the team that planned, assisted and carried out the assassination."

The report continued, quoting Iranian sources, “After the attack, Iranian security raided the guest house compound of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, where Haniyeh used to stay and in the same room during his visits to Tehran. They placed all the guest house employees under house arrest, arrested some of them, and confiscated all electronic devices, This includes personal phones.

In the details quoted by the newspaper from sources, “security men raided the guest house complex, combed every inch of it, and examined surveillance cameras dating back months, in addition to guest lists.”

According to the sources, “a separate team of security men interrogated senior military and intelligence officials who were responsible for protecting the capital, and placed a number of them under arrest until investigations were completed.”

The investigation also focused on Tehran's international and local airports, and security men were deployed, searching what surveillance cameras recorded over a period of months in the arrival and departure halls, and examining flight lists.

Mossad team

Iranian officials believed that "members of the Mossad assassination team are still in the country, and their goal is to arrest them."

News of the widespread arrests came after the Revolutionary Guard announced in a statement that “the scope and details of this incident are under investigation and will be announced at the appropriate time.”

A member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who requested to remain anonymous, said that he was not aware of the arrests, but explained that the security protocols for senior officials had been completely modified in the past two days and electronic equipment such as mobile phones had also been replaced, adding that some senior officials had been transferred to a location. Different.

In a related context, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported that the Mossad recruited Iranian agents to plant explosive devices in 3 different rooms in the guest house complex in Tehran where Haniyeh was staying, noting that the explosive devices were detonated remotely from outside.

The New York Times and the American website Axios had previously reported a similar story, in which they confirmed Israel's responsibility for Haniyeh's assassination, and claimed that the assassination was carried out with an explosive device planted by Mossad agents in his room, and was detonated remotely.

Source: Al Jazeera + American press