‘We Met at the Hotel, He Was Gone by Morning’: Nitin Gadkari on the Assassination of Ismail Haniyeh

India

oi-Ashish Rana

Union
Minister
Nitin
Gadkari
has
recounted
a
startling
sequence
of
events
that
placed
him
close
to
one
of
the
Middle
East’s
most
high-profile
killings
in
recent
years.

Speaking
at
a
book
launch,
Gadkari
said
he
met
Hamas
political
chief
Ismail
Haniyeh
just
hours
before
the
latter
was
assassinated
in
Tehran,
an
incident
that
has
since
raised
serious
questions
over
security
lapses
and
the
exact
method
of
the
attack.

Gadkari’s
Tehran
visit
and
unexpected
encounter

Gadkari
said
he
had
travelled
to
Iran
on
the
instructions
of
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
to
represent
India
at
the
swearing-in
ceremony
of
Iran’s
newly
elected
President
Masoud
Pezeshkian.
Ahead
of
the
ceremony,
senior
leaders
and
officials
from
several
countries
had
gathered
informally
at
a
five-star
hotel
in
Tehran.

“All
the
heads
of
various
nations
were
present,
but
one
person
who
wasn’t
a
head
of
state
was
Hamas
leader
Ismail
Haniyeh.
I
met
him.
I
saw
him
going
to
the
swearing-in
ceremony
along
with
the
President
and
the
Chief
Justice,” Gadkari
said
while
addressing
the
audience.

Shock
in
the
early
hours

According
to
Gadkari,
the
shock
came
a
few
hours
after
the
ceremony.
“After
the
swearing-in
ceremony,
I
returned
to
my
hotel,
but
around
4
am,
the
Iranian
ambassador
to
India
came
to
me
and
said
we
had
to
leave.
I
asked
what
happened
and
he
told
me
that
the
Hamas
chief
had
been
assassinated.
I
was
shocked
and
asked
how
it
happened
and
he
said,
‘I
don’t
know
yet,'”
the
minister
said.

Iranian
authorities
later
confirmed
that
Haniyeh
was
killed
at
around
1:15
am
on
July
31
while
staying
in
a
highly
secure
military
complex
under
the
supervision
of
the
Islamic
Revolutionary
Guard
Corps.
His
bodyguard
was
also
killed
in
the
attack.

Conflicting
accounts
of
the
assassination

Gadkari
told
the
gathering
that
uncertainty
still
surrounds
the
exact
circumstances
of
the
killing.
“Some
people
say
he
was
killed
because
of
using
his
mobile
phone.
Some
say
it
happened
in
some
other
way,”
he
said,
underlining
the
lack
of
clarity
even
weeks
after
the
incident.

The
IRGC
has
stated
that
a
short-range
missile
struck
the
building
where
Haniyeh
was
staying.
The
attack
took
place
while
he
was
in
Tehran
for
President
Pezeshkian’s
inauguration,
adding
to
the
sensitivity
of
the
breach.

Mossad
link
and
security
lapse
claims

Citing
a
report
by
The
Telegraph,
details
later
emerged
suggesting
that
Israel’s
intelligence
agency
Mossad
recruited
Iranian
security
personnel
to
plant
explosives
inside
the
building.
The
report
claimed
an
earlier
plan
to
assassinate
Haniyeh
during
his
May
visit
to
Tehran
for
the
funeral
of
former
Iranian
President
Ebrahim
Raisi
was
called
off
due
to
large
crowds.

The
explosives
were
reportedly
detonated
remotely
at
around
2
am,
after
operatives
exited
Iran,
leaving
at
least
one
agent
behind.
Senior
IRGC
officials
have
since
acknowledged
the
scale
of
the
security
failure,
with
one
official
telling
The
Telegraph
that
agents
from
the
Ansar-al-Mahdi
protection
unit
may
have
been
exploited.

Speaking
more
broadly
at
the
event,
Gadkari
remarked
that
strong
nations
are
difficult
to
target,
pointing
to
Israel
as
an
example
of
how
technological
advancement
and
military
strength
can
translate
into
global
influence.