Iranian MP says no infiltration involved in Haniyeh assassination

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps investigating the killing of Hamas leader in Tehran guesthouse

From left, Palestinian Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhal, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, meeting in Tehran, the day before Mr Haniyeh was killed. AP

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An Iranian MP has claimed “no infiltration” took place in order for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran on Wednesday.

Ebrahim Rezaei, speaking to the official government Irna news outlet, was quoting an official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the completion of the second stage of an investigation into the killing.

News reports varied widely following the assassination that has brought the region to the edge of a major conflict, with Iranian officials warning of impending retaliation against Israel.

Unnamed Israeli and US officials, speaking to The New York Times last week, claimed Mr Haniyeh had been killed by a bomb placed in his Tehran guesthouse room two months before the detonation.

An IRGC official, speaking anonymously to Tasnim – a news outlet linked to the organisation – said the report was “riddled with lies”.

The IRGC is thought to have been the agency responsible for Mr Haniyeh’s security during his stay in the Neshat compound, a large area for official visits and retreats near Saadabad Palace, a government building.

Hamas officials, meanwhile, said a short-range missile had been fired close to the building, blowing the room apart, an assertion supported by the Iranians. On Saturday, the IRGC said a missile with a 7kg warhead had struck the guesthouse.

In addition to the ground-launched missile and bomb theories, some defence analysts say the blast could have been the result of an air strike, probably launched from outside Iran’s borders – as was thought to have been the case with an Israeli strike on an Iranian airbase in April – or even an explosive quadcopter drone.

Mr Rezaei’s remark on infiltration may have been responding to a New York Times report on Saturday that claimed dozens of suspects had been arrested following the killing, including members of the security services.

Iran has not commented on the report but former MP Mansour Haghighatpour, a hardliner opposed to rapprochement with the West, said an investigation into Mr Haniyeh’s death should lead to the dismissal of security force members, calling the assassination a “bitter” security failure.