There has been much speculation about the execution of the attack on Hamas supreme leader Ismail Haniyeh ever since he was killed at a guesthouse in Tehran on Wednesday.
A few western media reports had claimed that Haniyeh, who was in the Iran capital to attend the inauguration of newly-elected president Masoud Pezeshkian, was killed by an explosive device that had been covertly 'smuggled' into the guesthouse around two months ago.
The guesthouse was under the security blanket of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
The elite Iranian armed forces wing, which has found itself in a humiliating position after the incident, denied these reports and claimed that the attack originated from outside building where Haniyeh was staying.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the Guards said the Hamas chief was assassinated with a "short-range projectile with a warhead of approximately 7 kilograms".
“This action was designed and implemented by the Zionist regime and supported by the criminal government of America,” it added.
This is the first time the IRGC has come up with an explanation on how the attack on Haniyeh took place.
Haniyeh was attacked while staying on the fourth floor of the guesthouse in Zafaraniyeh in northern Tehran. There were speculations that a long-range missile was fired from outside Iran's borders or from an aircraft over Iranian airspace.
On Thursday, quoting Middle Eastern officials, the New York Post reported that the bomb had been hidden about two months ago in the guesthouse, where Haniyeh was known to be staying.
The NYT also said that the Israeli intelligence officials briefed the United States and other Western governments on the details of the operation after the strike.
Corroborating it, the Telegraph claimed that Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, had hired Iranian security agents to plant explosives in three separate rooms of the building where the Hamas leader was staying.
According to the report, the original plan was to assassinate Haniyeh during the funeral of former Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi who was killed in a helicopter crash in May. The plan was dropped due to the high possibility of failure as there were several people in the funeral hall.
