Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Wednesday that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh and one of his body guards were assassinated in Tehran, Iranian state media reported.
“The residence of Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, was hit in Tehran, and as a result of this incident, him and one of his bodyguards were martyred,” said a statement by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Sepah news website.
Haniyeh, based in Qatar, was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran’s new president. He has been the tough-talking face of Hamas’ international diplomacy as war with Israel has raged on in Gaza.
Israel vowed to kill Hamas leaders soon after the group’s incursion on October 7.
In a statement, Hamas mourned the death of Haniyeh.
“Brother, leader, mujahid Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the movement, died in a Zionist strike on his headquarters in Tehran after he participated in the inauguration of the new (Iranian) president,” the movement said.
The attack follows a strike by Israel on Beirut on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah commander.
More to come …
