Report: Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Assassinated by Bomb Planted in Tehran Guesthouse Months in Advance

TEHRAN – Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed on Wednesday by a bomb that had been hidden in his Tehran guesthouse two months before his arrival, according to a report.

Originally thought to have died in an airstrike, Haniyeh was actually killed by a remotely detonated bomb inside the guesthouse, as confirmed by seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians and one American, according to the New York Times.

The bomb had been placed in the guesthouse roughly two months before Haniyeh’s visit, as reported by five Middle Eastern officials. The device was detonated remotely at around 2 a.m. local time, once it was confirmed that Haniyeh was in the room.

The explosion was so precise that the room next door, where the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, was staying, suffered minimal damage, according to Iranian officials.

Officials compared the precision of this attack to the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was killed by Israel using a remote-controlled machine gun in 2020.

The blast also resulted in the death of one of Haniyeh’s bodyguards, according to the report.

Haniyeh was staying at a guesthouse operated and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Neshat, an affluent area in northern Tehran.

IRGC members briefed on the event said the explosion shook the entire building, breaking windows and causing part of an exterior wall to collapse.

Photos of the burnt building were posted by the IRGC-affiliated Sabereen News and later verified by Western outlets. These images showed an entire corner of the complex covered in black ash with debris scattered below.

Following the discovery that Haniyeh was killed by a remotely detonated bomb rather than an airstrike or drone strike as previously believed, Iranian officials criticized the assassination as a major security failure.

According to Iranian sources, the guesthouse where Haniyeh was staying is part of a compound reserved for retreats, secret meetings, and housing prominent guests.