Dozens of Security Personnel Arrested in Iran: What Is Happening There

Dozens of security personnel in Iran have been arrested in connection with the investigation into the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas's political bureau, including senior intelligence officers and military officials, reports the New York Times, citing its sources.

Earlier, the Telegraph reported, citing unnamed personnel from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that explosives were placed by IRGC agents at the behest of Israel's intelligence agency, Mossad, for the assassination of Haniyeh.

According to the publication, the incident has become a "humiliation and a major breach of security" for Iranian special services. “More than two dozen individuals have been arrested in Iran, including senior intelligence officers, military officials, and personnel from a hotel in Tehran where Haniyeh was killed,” stated the New York Times report.

It is noted that immediately following the attack, Iranian security agents isolated all hotel staff in Tehran and confiscated their electronic devices, including mobile phones. The agents also interrogated senior intelligence officers and military personnel responsible for ensuring Tehran's security.

According to sources from the New York Times, Iranian special services believe that agents hired by Mossad are still in the country and that their current aim is to arrest them.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Hamas movement announced Haniyeh's death due to an Israeli strike on his residence in Tehran, where he had arrived to participate in Iran's new president's inauguration.

The movement held Israel and the United States responsible for Haniyeh's death and stated that the attack would not go unanswered. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that he had nothing to say regarding the death of Hamas's political bureau chief and Israel's involvement in it. Representatives of the Israeli army, for their part, announced that they would not respond to media reports about Haniyeh's assassination. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli authorities have instructed ministers not to speak on the matter of the Hamas leader's assassination.