Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh Murder Plot Unearthed

News Today:  Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday leaving thousands of mourners behind and a question mark on the intelligence and security failure of Iran. The cold blooded murder plot began two months in advance when a bomb was smuggled into a Tehran guesthouse before Haniyeh breathed his last. The guesthouse by the name Neshat, is located in a posh area of Northern Tehran and is operated by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The sources of seven Middle Eastern Officials, including one American and two Iranian officials confirmed that the bomb was guided remotely to hit the target with precision, killing the Hamas chief and one of his bodyguards. Ismail Haniyeh who headed Hamas’s political bureau stayed in the Neshat guesthouse various times before while he was on visits to Tehran. Reports echoed that Haniyeh’s murder was meticulously planned with extensive surveillance of the compound when he was on his visit to Iran to attend the inauguration of the country’s new president after the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in 2024. Speculations are swirling that Mossad is the mastermind behind the targeted killing of the Hamas chief. The attack revealed sheer vulnerabilities in Iran's intelligence and security setup that enabled a guided missile to hit the supposedly secure compound with great precision.

Haniyeh’s assassination has fueled the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. On the other side, Iran’s vows of retaliation raise fears of an inevitable response. Ismail Haniyeh’s coffin was moved to Qatar for the funeral where he was residing for the last several years. The upcoming few weeks will be decisive about where the conflict will take the region.