Iran has arrested at least 20 people on suspicion of being linked to the Israeli assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, the New York Times reports, citing two Iranians familiar with the investigation.
Among those arrested were senior Iranian intelligence officials, military officials and staff at a guesthouse run by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the report said. Iranians fear that a major security breach among high-ranking officials made the assassination possible.
The high-profile arrests came after Ismail Haniyeh, who headed Hamas’ political office in Qatar, was killed in an explosion. He was visiting Tehran for the inauguration of the new Iranian president and stayed in a guesthouse in the northern part of the city.
“The perception that Iran cannot protect either its homeland or its key allies could be fatal for the Iranian regime, because it basically signals to its enemies that if they cannot bring down the Islamic Republic, they can behead it,” said Ali Vaez, Iran director of the International Crisis Group groups.
The IRGC’s specialized espionage intelligence unit has taken over the investigation and is looking for suspects it hopes will lead to members of the hit team that planned, aided and abetted the killing, according to two Iranian officials, The New York Times reported.
News of the sweeping arrests came after the IRGC said in a statement that “the extent and details of this incident are under investigation and will be released in due course.”
The intensity and scope of the Guard’s investigation reveal the extent to which the assassination shocked and disturbed the country’s leadership.
Iranian officials and Hamas said on Wednesday that Israel was responsible for the assassination, an assessment shared by several US officials. Israel, which has vowed to destroy Hamas’ capabilities, has not admitted responsibility for planting the bomb.
The Telegraph previously reported that Mossad had hired Iranian security agents to plant explosives in the guesthouse and then detonate it remotely, but a Hamas official in Iran told the Al-Araby Al Jadeed news outlet that an aerial missile targeted Haniyeh.
The British newspaper states that the agents nevertheless set off and planted explosives in three rooms of the complex, and later left Iran. They allegedly detonated bombs from abroad.
“They are now certain that Mossad hired agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi security unit,” said an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, referring to the unit tasked with protecting high-ranking officials.
Due to the escalation in the Middle East, the United States decided to send additional warships and fighter planes to the region. Also, the Americans will keep an aircraft carrier in the Middle East, only the USS Abraham Lincoln will replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is in the Gulf of Oman.
