Iranian Interior Minister blames intelligence agencies for Haniyeh assassination in Tehran

Shafaq News/ Iranian Interior Minister Abdulvahed Mousavi Lari on Monday criticized the country's intelligence agencies, including the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards, for failing to prevent the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

In an interview with the Iranian news outlet Jamaran, Lari admitted the shortcomings of Iran's intelligence services, acknowledging that they had been outmaneuvered by Western counterparts. "One of the pillars of the government is the Ministry of Intelligence; it must understand that it is operating in a new environment," he said.

He pointed to the failure of both the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards’ intelligence unit in predicting or controlling the situation. "They came and struck Ismail Haniyeh in the heart of Tehran," he noted, underscoring the gravity of the security lapse.

Lari criticized the agencies for losing focus on their primary mission: countering foreign intelligence operations, including those of "Mossad, MI6, CIA, and KGB." He warned that the KGB might be engaging in more dangerous activities in Iran than the CIA, adding, "Our intelligence agencies have forgotten that they were supposed to be vigilant against such threats, and the result was that ISIS managed to enter the heart of the Islamic Consultative Assembly."

The Interior Minister expressed concern over the potential consequences of continued intelligence failures under President Masoud Pezeshkian's new administration. "Pezeshkian is the last shot the government has in its arsenal, and if this fails as well, it will be catastrophic; Pezeshkian's failure would be a disaster," Lari concluded.