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According to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on August 4, Ibrahim Rezai, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, quoted the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of the Political Bureau of the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Organization (Hamas), in Tehran "was not the result of infiltration" and that Iran is taking appropriate measures.

Russia's TASS news agency said on the 4th that the above statement means that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps refuted the Western media reports that there was a "mole" in the Iranian security team. These reports stated that Israeli intelligence agencies hired Iranian security team members to install a remote-controlled bomb in the hotel where Haniyeh stayed in May.

A picture of a building circulated on social media, claiming to be the place where Haniyeh was killed

On August 4, local time, Ibrahim Rezai met with officials from the Iranian intelligence and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He said that this meeting was the second discussion on the investigation into the assassination since Haniyeh was killed in an attack in the early morning of July 31.

After the meeting, Rezai said that a deputy commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran said that Haniyeh’s assassination was not due to "infiltration" of Iran, and Iran is currently taking appropriate measures.

Rezai said that IRGC officials briefed the meeting on the situation in the region since Hamas launched "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm" against Israel, and the IRGC also reported details of Haniyeh's assassination.

Rezai quoted an IRGC official as saying that "Operation Al-Aqsa Storm" accelerated the destruction of the "Zionist regime," adding that the Zionists had failed to achieve their goals in the past few months and could only accept defeat.

IRNA said the meeting was held when Iran accused the Israeli authorities of carrying out the assassination and vowed to launch a retaliatory strike. The report mentioned that Haniyeh attended the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Pezerhizzian on July 30 local time. In the early morning of July 31, Haniyeh and a bodyguard were attacked and killed in their residence in Tehran.

Associated Press

The British Daily Telegraph quoted two anonymous Iranian officials on August 2 as saying that the Israeli Intelligence and Secret Service (Mossad) recruited several agents from the Mahdi Guard Organization, which is responsible for the security of senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In May this year, two Iranian agents chose to place explosive devices in three rooms of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps guesthouse in northern Tehran, the hotel where Haniyeh was most likely to stay.

The New York Times also quoted sources as saying that the Iranian government has arrested more than 20 people, including senior intelligence officials, military officials and staff of the hotel where Haniyeh was killed.

However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement on the 3rd saying that after investigation, a short-range missile with a warhead weighing about 7 kilograms was fired from outside the building at Haniya's residence. "This terrorist attack was planned and carried out by the Zionist regime and supported by the criminal government of the United States."

According to the Wall Street Journal on August 4, Iran rejected attempts by the United States and Arab countries to "ease" its response to the assassination, and Iranian authorities are investigating security loopholes in the assassination. Israel has not yet publicly commented on the assassination.

The report quoted Iran's Fars News Agency as saying that Iran's deputy justice minister said on August 3 that the country's prosecutors have launched an investigation into Haniyeh's death and ordered the identification and arrest of anyone who failed to perform his duties or intended to cooperate with Israel in the incident. People familiar with the matter said that some security officials have been questioned.

The Wall Street Journal also quoted Iranian media reports as saying that Ahmad Bakhshaish Aldestani, a member of the Iranian parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said that "Iran's security information system has loopholes and pollution."

As all parties debate the cause of Haniyeh's death, tensions in the Middle East are heightened. The Israeli Jerusalem Post website quoted Sky News Arabia on August 2 as saying that Iran plans to launch an attack on Israel on August 12-13, the "Day of the Destruction of the Temple," in response to Haniyeh's assassination. The report also said that Iran's attack will be coordinated with Lebanon's Hezbollah.

This article is an exclusive article of Observer.com and may not be reproduced without authorization.