‘No one knows where missile came from’: Nitin Gadkari recalls meeting Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hours before assassination; how he reacted

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari has recounted how he came face to face with Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh just hours before the latter was assassinated in Tehran, linking the incident to what he described as the growing role of technology in modern conflict and national security.Speaking at a book launch event, Gadkari said he had travelled to Iran at the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to represent India at the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian. According to the minister, foreign dignitaries were staying at a five-star hotel in Tehran ahead of the ceremony. “I had gone for the Iranian Prime Minister's ceremony. There is a 5-star hotel there where all heads of state stayed. Modi ji had sent me,” Gadkari said.He recalled noticing one individual among the dignitaries who was not a head of state. “I wondered who he was. I also shook hands and asked. He was the head of Hamas,” he said, adding that Haniyeh later walked into the ceremony alongside Iran’s president and chief justice, while other delegates followed.Gadkari further described how he was woken early in the morning amid the chaos of Haniyeh’s assassinations. “I also came to my hotel and after eating dinner, went to sleep. At 4 o'clock, the ambassador came and knocked on the door saying "Sir, we have to evacuate." I asked why. He said there's been a big problem. What happened? He said the Hamas leader who was here yesterday, a powerful man, was killed in his room.”Iranian authorities later confirmed that Haniyeh was killed at around 1.15am on July 31, 2024, while staying in a highly secure military complex under the supervision of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). His bodyguard was also killed in the attack, according to official statements cited by the Associated Press.Gadkari told the audience that the exact method of the assassination remained unclear. He went on to suggest how the future high-tech is important from the perspective of national security, modern warfare, and critical infrastructure. “No one knows from where the missile was fired, where it entered - now some say it was his mobile phone number, he was specially hidden in one place in a bungalow, went to that room and killed him there. So the coming time is futuristic, technology and futuristic vision for development in defence, agriculture, industry, trade, business export - we will have to do all this.” At the same event, Gadkari remarked that strong nations are difficult to target, citing Israel as an example of how technological and military capability translate into global influence.Iran’s revolutionary guards authorities had said a short-range missile was used to strike the building where Haniyeh was staying. The Telegraph claimed that Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad may have orchestrated the killing by planting explosives inside the guesthouse, citing Iranian officials. Iranian authorities have not publicly confirmed that account.