Source Tells Tasnim NYT Report on Haniyeh Assassination False

By Al Mayadeen English

3 Aug 2024 

A source told Tasnim News Agency that the New York Times report about Hamas chief Haniyeh's assassination was fabricated.

An informed source has dismissed a recent report by The New York Times regarding the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Speaking to Tasnim News Agency on Saturday, the source described the NYT article published on August 1 as being "riddled with lies" and a continuation of a psyop of the Israeli occupation that lacks any news value.

The source specifically highlighted the involvement of Ronen Bergman, one of the report's authors, suggesting that his track record undermines the credibility of the article.

"The Zionist regime has crossed a major red line and committed a barbaric and cowardly assassination, whose full details are being investigated," the source stated.

They accused the Israeli occupation of mobilizing its security elements within media outlets to disseminate false details, thereby confusing the public and experts to cover up their terrorist acts.

According to the source, vital information has surfaced about Haniyeh's martyrdom. They refuted the NYT's claim that Haniyeh was killed by an explosive device covertly smuggled into his residence. Instead, the source stated that evidence indicates an aerial projectile, possibly carried by a drone, was responsible for the explosion.

The source further denied claims in the NYT report that members of Iran's Supreme National Security Council met with the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei at 7 am on July 31.

The source described such details as part of an old media tactic designed to make readers believe in the authenticity of the report by providing seemingly precise information.

The assassination, the source claimed, involved "new terrorist technologies" rather than a bomb planted by agents.

Haniyeh, who was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran's new president, was assassinated in a special residence in northern Tehran during the early hours of July 31.

IRGC concludes projectile used to kill Haniyeh

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on Saturday revealed that the Israeli occupation, with the support of the "criminal" US government, planned and carried out the "terrorist" operation of assassinating Haniyeh.

The operation was carried out by launching a short-range, 7kg-warhead projectile from outside the perimeter of the guests’ residence, the IRGC indicated in its third statement regarding the assassination of Haniyeh and his security guard in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

Elsewhere, the IRGC made it clear that avenging the blood of the Palestinian leader is inevitable, underlining that "the terrorist Zionist entity will be severely punished for this reckless and terrorist crime at the appropriate time, place, and manner."

On July 31, the IRGC announced the martyrdom of Haniyeh, who was on a visit to Tehran to attend the inauguration ceremony of Iran's new President Masoud Pezeshkian.

It vowed that the Resistance Axis will make "Israel" pay a heavy price for its "criminal and cowardly" assassination.

"The heinous crime committed by the Zionist regime in killing Ismail Haniyeh... will undoubtedly be met with a harsh and painful response from the powerful Resistance Front," the IRGC indicated in a statement.

The IRGC pointed out that the Israeli crimes, which defy international law, are attempts to conceal their failure after nine months of war on Gaza.