Top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated Wednesday by a bomb that was smuggled into the Tehran guesthouse where he was staying two months before his arrival, according to a report.
Haniyeh, who was initially thought to have been killed in an airstrike, died from a remotely detonated bomb inside the guesthouse, seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranians and an American official, told The New York Times.
The bomb was hidden inside the guesthouse approximately two months before Haniyeh’s visit, five of the Middle Eastern officials told the Times.
According to the sources, the bomb detonated remotely once it was confirmed Haniyeh was inside the room.
The explosion also killed a bodyguard, according to the report.
The guesthouse Haniyeh was staying at is run and protected by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in Neshat, a wealthy neighborhood of northern Tehran.
