Ismail haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian
New Delhi:
Israel’s elite intelligence agency, Mossad, recruited Iranian security agents to plant explosives in a building in Tehran where the armed political leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, was staying, The Telegraph reported.
The 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 large crowds, which posed a high risk of failure, according to two Iranian officials who spoke to The Telegraph.
Therefore, the operation had to be modified. Two agents, working under Mossad direction, placed explosive devices in three separate rooms of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) guest house in northern Tehran. This location was chosen strategically because Haniyeh was likely to remain there.
How the Mossad works
With an annual budget of $3 billion and 7,000 employees, Mossad is the second largest spy agency in the West, after the CIA.
The Mossad has several departments, but the details of its internal structure are mostly hidden. Not only does it have a network of informants and agents within Palestinian militant groups, but also in hostile countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Iran. The intelligence agency’s vast spy network gives it intimate knowledge of the movements of militant leaders , allowing them to carry out precise assassinations when necessary.
Explained | How the Mossad works and why it failed to prevent the Hamas attack
The Special Operations Division, also known as Metsada, carries out highly sensitive assassinations, sabotage, paramilitary and psychological warfare operations.
Operation to eliminate Haniyeh
According to The Telegraph, surveillance footage maintained by Iranian authorities shows agents moving stealthily, entering and exiting multiple rooms within minutes. After planting the devices, they left Iran undetected but maintained a source inside the country. In the early hours of Wednesday, at 2 am, agents remotely detonated the explosives in the room where Haniyeh was staying.
The explosion resulted in the death of Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of President Masoud Pezeshkian. This assassination has been confirmed by IRGC officials, who now believe that Mossad employed agents from the Ansar-al-Mahdi protection unit, a group responsible for safeguarding senior officials inside and outside the country.
“This is a humiliation for Iran and a huge security breach,” an IRGC official told The Telegraph. A special working group was created to develop strategies to mitigate the perception of this violation, the official added.
Potential ramifications
In response to this violation, the IRGC is considering its options for retaliation. A direct attack on Tel Aviv, potentially involving Hezbollah and other Iranian proxies, is reportedly the main option being evaluated.
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which overthrew Iran’s political and social structure, the country has made a conscious effort to spread its influence across the Middle East through proxy groups.
Explained | Iran’s Axis of Resistance and Proxy Network in the Middle East
The Quds Force, one of the five branches of the IRGC specializing in intelligence and covert operations, serves as the main point of contact for these proxy groups, providing them with weapons and training to solidify Iran’s regional agenda.
The timing of the murder, coinciding with President Pezeshkian’s first day in office, raised suspicions about its intentionality. During his campaign, President Pezeshkian pledged to move away from the Islamic Republic’s provocative policies and restore Iran’s standing through dialogue.
President Pezeshkian, an experienced lawmaker and heart surgeon, has long supported domestic and international reforms in Iran. His victory in the recent elections is seen as a call for change as it comes in the wake of general dissatisfaction with the policies hardliners of his predecessors. But the dynamics of Iranian politics, where hardliners still control the majority and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei retains ultimate authority, will test Pezeshkian’s ability to carry out his vision.
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