File image.
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian Hamas Movement, was killed earlier this week by a “short-range projectile” launched from outside his residence in the Iranian capital, Tehran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on August 3.
In a statement, the guards said that based on investigations conducted so far, the attack against Haniyeh “was carried out by firing a short-range projectile carrying about 7kg explosive materials and launched from outside the guests residency”.
The IRGC also vowed that Israel will receive “a harsh punishment in due time and place” for Haniyeh’s assassination, which, it said, was “supported by the criminal government” of the United States.
Haniyeh and his bodyguard were killed in an Iranian government guest house in Tehran early on July 31. The Palestinian leader was in the Iranian capital to attend the inauguration of Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian.
A recent report by The New York Times alleged that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb that was planted by the Israeli intelligence in the guest house two months earlier. Nevertheless, these claims were rejected by Iranian media.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, while the U.S. has said it “was not aware of or involved in” Haniyeh’s killing.
The assassination came after senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, on July 30.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered a direct strike against Israel in response to the killing of Hanieyh and the attack may be carried out jointly with other allies of Tehran, including Hezbollah which vowed to avenge Shukr.
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