Middle Eastern officials told the paper the assassination's planning likely took months and extensive surveillance.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by a remote-controlled explosive device that was planted some two months earlier in the guesthouse where he was accustomed to stay when in Tehran, The New York Times reported on Thursday.
The Lebanese Al-Mayadeen network, which is affiliated with Hezbollah, previously claimed that Wednesday’s assassination was “carried out by means of a missile launched from country to country, not from within Iran.”
The Times report, which cited Iranian, Middle Eastern and U.S. officials, did not elucidate how the explosive was smuggled into the building. Seven Middle Eastern officials told the paper that the planning of the killing likely took months and required extensive surveillance.