DID THE AYATOLLAHS KILL ISMAIL HANIYEH?

 

 

 

 

This is the house in Teheran where Ismail Haniyeh stayed and where he was killed. His room was on the top floor. They have covered up the damaged room.   

It has been three days since he was blown up and yet the Iranians have still not released any information about the cause of the explosion.

Media reports now say that the explosion was not caused by a rocket, missile or drone. They say the explosion came from inside the house, from a bomb that was planted inside the room. The explosion blew outwards and that is why they have covered up the damaged part with that cloth.

The bomb was recently planted or it could have been planted earlier. I doubt the bomb was planted TWO MONTHS earlier because the battery would have died in two months. (Any bomb would require some battery power). Also how could they guarantee that Ismail Haniyeh would even turn up in Teheran TWO MONTH'S LATER to attend the inauguration of the new president? That is stretching it.

The house was a guest house which had been used by Ismail Haniyeh before when he visited Teheran. The house was under the management of the Islamic Republican Guards. Only the Guards had access to the premises.

The Israelis have not acknowledged any involvement in Haniyeh's death.

A missile fired from outside Iran does not sound possible because it would have to be a long range cruise missile which would have destroyed the entire house. A smaller missile would have to be fired from an aircraft including a UAV or helicopter. This idea is also being dismissed. Or that a missile was fired from a neighbouring building.

The explosion that occurred was small and with a small kill radius. You can see in the picture  there is almost no other damage to the house. Possibly the bomb was planted exactly under Haniyeh's bed.  Just enough to kill him.

Who and why?

To backtrack a little, there is a conspiracy theory that Qassem Soleimani was betrayed by the Ayatollahs who did not like the fact that Soleimani was getting too powerful inside Iran. So they leaked his exact whereabouts to the Americans and the Americans blew him up.

It is possible that Ismail Haniyeh was leaning towards a ceasefire in Gaza and the Ayatollahs were not agreeable. Haniyeh's death certainly destroys any possibility of a ceasefire for a long time to come.

It has been three days and the Iranians have not made any official statements about the explosion that killed Haniyeh. By now their forensics teams would have identified the explosives used,  and they would know if it was a bomb, missile or drone. They would know many details. There is some cover up going on.

This is the Middle East. It is a snake pit. You dont know who will kill whom, who will get blown up next and who will betray whom. 

I always say just avoid these people. You get involved with these people and you are only looking for trouble.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.