In response to the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in its capital Tehran, Iran has arrested over two dozen individuals, including high-ranking intelligence officers, military officials, and staff at a military-run guesthouse in the capital, New York Times reported. 

Israel’s elite intelligence agency Mossad enlisted Iranian security agents to plant explosives at the guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying. Haniyeh, who headed Hamas’s political office in Qatar, was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. The assassination, occurring just hours after the president’s swearing-in ceremony, is seen as a massive intelligence and security failure for Iran.

“The perception that Iran can neither protect its homeland nor its key allies could be fatal for the Iranian regime because it basically signals to its foes that if they can’t topple the Islamic Republic, they can decapitate it,” said Ali Vaez, Iran director for the International Crisis Group, told New York Times. 

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Iranian security forces conducted thorough searches of the guesthouse compound. They detained staff, confiscated electronic devices, and scrutinised surveillance footage and guest lists. Senior military and intelligence officials responsible for Tehran’s security were also interrogated, with several placed under arrest pending further investigation.

The compound, managed by the IRGC, housed Haniyeh in a room he frequently used during his Tehran visits. 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps or IRGC’s specialised intelligence unit for espionage has taken the lead in the investigation. The unit is actively pursuing suspects to uncover the network responsible for the assassination. 

Iranian and Hamas officials have accused Israel of orchestrating the assassination, a stance supported by several US. officials. Israel, maintaining its stance on eliminating Hamas’s military capabilities, has not acknowledged responsibility for the attack.

According to The Telegraph, Israel’s initial plan was to assassinate Haniyeh in May during his visit to Tehran for the funeral of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. The operation was aborted due to overwhelming crowds, which posed a major risk of failure, according to two Iranian officials who spoke to The Telegraph. Two agents, working under Mossad’s direction, placed explosive devices in three separate rooms of the IRGC guesthouse in northern Tehran.

This assassination has been confirmed by officials within the IRGC, who now believe Mossad employed agents from the Ansar-al-Mahdi protection unit, a group responsible for safeguarding high-ranking officials inside and outside the country. 

 Israel has previously targeted Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders, including the high-profile killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in 2020. These operations have often involved sophisticated technology and precise execution.

Days before Haniyeh’s assassination, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, Seyed Esmaeil Khatib, claimed success in dismantling a Mossad infiltrator network. However, Haniyeh’s killing contradicted these assurances of any security failure.