Report: The Hague Has Convincing Evidence of Syrian Regime, Iranian Links to Hariri Assassination
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon has “convincing” evidence that Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad are involved in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, reported The New Yorker magazine.
It said that Hizbullah likely “pulled the trigger” in the assassination, but could not have done so without Syria and Iran's blessing and logistic support.
The perpetrators behind the assassination had in their possession a telephone that they used to make at least 12 calls to Iran before and after the crime, added the magazine.
The STL investigators sought to determine who the perpetrators were contacting in Iran and they requested the aid of western intelligence agencies.
Meanwhile, the magazine quoted a senior CIA official as saying that Iranian agents were heard talking minutes before the assassination.
The Iranians were orchestrating the assassination over the phone, added the former CIA official.
Head of the elite Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard General Qassem Soleimani had to be involved in Hariri's assassination if the Islamic republic was truly linked to the crime, noted the official.
Four Hizbullah members have been named suspects by the STL in the Beirut truck bombing that killed Hariri on February 14 , 2005.
The party denies the charges and has refused to hand over the suspects.
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