The failures surrounding Haniyeh’s death, especially on a day marked by intense security, have caused embarrassment for Iran and the IRGC.
Dozens of IRGC officers have been arrested or dismissed in the days since Haniyeh’s death, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The paper said the organisation’s intelligence agency had taken over the investigation. Staff members at Haniyeh’s guesthouse have been interrogated and their phones and other electronics have been seized, it added.
Meanwhile, the security details of Iranian politicians have been overhauled. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers for Haniyeh on Thursday, but was whisked away soon after the ceremony by his security detail.
The IRGC’s statement on Saturday came after Britain’s Daily Telegraph said Haniyeh was killed by bombs planted in his room by agents of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency
Citing Iranian officials, the paper said two Mossad agents had entered the guesthouse and planted explosives in three rooms. The Iranians, who had viewed CCTV footage of the operatives, said the two subsequently left the country before detonating the bombs from outside Iran.
The New York Times also reported that Haniyeh was killed by explosives detonated in his room, saying they could have been planted up to two months earlier. The BBC has not been able to verify these claims.
But Hamas officials told the BBC earlier this week that Haniyeh had stayed at the same guesthouse before. He had made up to 15 visits to Iran since becoming the head of the political bureau in 2017.
The papers’ reports – if true – would represent an even bigger failure for the IRGC, who have long controlled internal security in the country. Experts also said it would highlight the degree to which Mossad can operate with impunity in Iran.
Regardless of the manner of Haniyeh’s death, both Iran and Hamas have vowed to retaliate.
The IRGC said on Saturday that Israel would receive “a severe punishment at the appropriate time, place and manner”.
Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militia and political group in Lebanon, has also vowed reprisals. One of their top commanders, Fuad Shukr, was killed in an Israeli strike last Tuesday.
After an Israeli operation killed IRGC Brig Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi in Damascus earlier this year, Iran fired 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and at least 110 ballistic missiles towards Israel.
