IRAN has arrested over two dozen people after a Hamas leader was taken out by Israel in a rocket strike on capital Tehran this week.
Senior intelligence officials, military staff and workers from his accommodation where the missile hit have been locked up following the embarrassing security breach.
Although Israel has yet to claim official responsibility, its spies are thought to be behind the precision strike that wiped out Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday.
Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence arm somehow discovered exactly which room of a military-guesthouse in northern Tehran he was staying in.
A guided missile was then fired through the window of his room and detonated around 2am, killing him and his bodyguard instantly.
Haniyeh was assassinated mere hours after attending the swearing-in ceremony for Iran’s new president while staying in the heavily guarded compound.
It was an incredible feat of intelligence on a day of heightened security, at a building with bulletproof windows, air defence and radar.
His death paints a humiliating picture of Iranian security and defence in the face of Israeli forces.
As Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced an investigation into Haniyeh’s assassination, news of the arrests was reported in the New York Times.
Ali Vaez, Iran director for the International Crisis Group, told the outlet: “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.”
Iranian officials have tried to claim that Haniyeh was killed by a bomb planted in his room some two months before his stay.
Hamas, Iranian and US officials have all concluded that Israel was responsible for the deadly hit on Wednesday.
Netanyahu’s forces still have yet to admit responsibility.
Two unnamed Iranian officials said they are working to hunt down those responsible for the planning and execution of Haniyeh’s assassination.
According to The Telegraph, Israeli spy agency Mossad hired Iranian security guards to plant explosives in different rooms at the building he stayed in.
An early plan involved taking the Hamas boss out in May, when he travelled to Iran for the funeral of president Ibrahim Raisi.
Because of large crowds inside the building at the time, the assassination wasn’t possible – so two agents placed explosives in three different rooms of the compound instead.
The scope of their investigation, via the IRGC intelligence unit, represents how damaging Israel’s strike was for Iran’s reputation in the Middle East.
It showed that one of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s most important allies couldn’t be kept safe from Mossad’s reach.
And it isn’t the first time Israel has delivered a cutting reputational blow to Iran on the world’s stage.
In April, Iran launched hundreds of missiles towards Israel in a dangerous escalation of tensions in the region.
But Israeli defences destroyed almost all of the rockets and unleashed its own hyper precise strike which hit an airbase near Isfahan, in central Iran.
In the same month a suspected Israeli attack on an embassy in Damascus, Syria, took out several high-ranking IRGC officers.
The assassination of Haniyeh sparked fury across the region among Hamas’ staunchest allies – all Iranian backed proxy armies.
Iran itself said it was “Tehran’s duty” to seek “revenge for Ismail Haniyeh’s blood” after he was killed.
It’s array of proxy groups, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, all vowed to seek retribution for the hit.
Iran’s most developed and best funded proxy is Hezbollah, which operates out of southern Lebanon just metres from Israel across its northern border.
Israel had taken out Hezbollah’s most senior commander, Fuad Shukr, in another strike on Beirut on Monday evening.
As fears of an all-out war in the region rise, Israel and the US are preparing for a potentially severe retaliation from Iran.
American officials are reportedly preparing military assets and regional partners to stop another attack – which they fear could be worse than the one in April, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Haniyeh’s was one of Israel’s top targets since war broke out in October, with Netanyahu vowing to take out all of Hamas.
Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) revealed this week that they have also killed Mohammed Deif, one of the Hamas terrorists responsible for orchestrating the horrific October 7 massacre.
Now Yahya Sinwar, Hamas boss in the war-torn Strip, is the last major kingpin left to hunt down.
Last man standing Sinwar has evaded Israeli assassination in Gaza during almost 10 months of war.
He is believed to be hiding in the tunnels under the city, used by the terror group to move, transport weapons and even hold hostages.
Retired Israeli brigadier general Amir Avivi told The Sun on Wednesday that Israel’s recent strikes on Hamas bosses is evidence of its formidable capacity to destroy enemies anytime and anywhere.
