Israel's intelligence agency Mossad hired Iranian security agents to place explosives in several rooms of a Tehran guesthouse where Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh was staying, British newspaper The Telegraph reported Friday.
Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran on Wednesday, amid the swearing-in ceremony of Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian. According to The Telegraph, the original plan was to kill Haniyeh in May, but didn't pan out due to large crowds in the building and high probability that the plan would fail.
Three Iranian operatives could be seen on video surveillance moving quickly between several rooms, the report said, citing officials with access to the footage, where they placed devices in multiple rooms Haniyeh might stay.
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The agents then left the country and reportedly detonated the explosives from abroad.
A woman holds a poster depicting figures whose deaths have been attributed to Israel, in Tehran.Credit: AFP
According to an Iranian Revolutionary Guards official quoted in the report, the "Mossad hired agents from the Ansar al-Mahdi protection unit,"or the unit tasked with ensuring the safety of high-ranking officials.
A source added that an "internal blame game" is taking place within the Revolutionary Guards, with sectors accusing each other of being responsible for the massive security breach.
Iran has made sweeping arrests following Haniyeh's assassination on Wednesday, the New York Times reported, with over 24 people taken into custody.
These include "senior intelligence officers, military officials and staff workers" at the site of the assassination in northern Tehran.