Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asserted on this Tuesday that the Islamic Republic was not at all behind Hamas attacks on Israel early Saturday.
This Tuesday, and with the aim of putting an end to the US and Israel accusations that Iran was behind Hamas attacks on Israel, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei asserted that the Islamic Republic was not involved in the Hamas group’s Saturday attacks.
“Despite what the US and the Zionist regime say, Iran was not behind Hamas Saturday attacks,” Khamenei said in a televised speech on Tuesday morning.
However, Iran’s Supreme Leader hailed the surprise attacks and described it as Israel’s “irreparable” military and intelligence defeat. “We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” said Khamenei, who was wearing a Palestinian scarf, in his first televised speech since the attack.
“This destructive earthquake (Hamas’ attack) has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) which will not be repaired easily … The Zionist regime’s own actions are to blame for this disaster,” he added.
Khamenei also warned that Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza would unleash a much heavier torrent of anger, and noted that “the occupying regime seeks to portray itself as a victim to escalate its crimes further … this is a misguided calculation … It will result in even greater disaster.”
Immediately after Hamas attacks on Israel early this Saturday, Israel and the US held their fingers of accusation towards Iran and claimed that Tehran was behind the attacks. This, however, is not a new story as both Tel Aviv and Washington have long accused Iran’s clerical rulers of stoking violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Tehran, however, has always denied such allegations, with Iranian top officials continuously asserting that Iran only gives moral and financial support to the group, which controls the Gaza Strip.
Iran does not recognize Israel, and backing the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and a way the Shi’ite-dominated country has fashioned itself as a leader of the Muslim world.
US still accusing Iran of complicity in the attacks
Despite Iran rejected any role in Hamas attacks, Washington still insists that Tehran was involved. For this reason, and as several current and former senior US officials noted this Tuesday, the US warships and fighter jets are being deployed near Israel “to send an explicit message to Iran”.
Giving more details on the move, a current official from Congress noted that “the Biden administration is sending the ships of the Navy’s USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and military officials plan for the foreseeable future to keep in place some F-16 and A-10 fighter jets that had been scheduled to rotate out of the region.”
In addition, and to add more fuel to the already huge fire of tensions in the region, another official said that two dozen advanced fighter jets are expected to arrive in the region in the coming days. He also noted that “represents significant air-to-air and air-to-ground capability to deter any Iranian aggression or expansion of ops,” which is shorthand for operations.
The war between Hamas and Israel has been one of the deadliest in the history of rivalry between the two sides. According to the latest figures from Israeli media, the death toll from the Hamas attack had climbed to 900, with at least 2,600 injured. From the Palestinian side, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported this Tuesday morning that due to Israeli air strikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday, at least 687 Palestinians were killed and 3,726 were wounded.
