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On Monday, Iran denounced as untrue claims that it was involved in the major attack on Israel by the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas.
Nasser Kanani, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, told reporters that “the accusations linked to an Iranian role… are based on political reasons.”
He claimed that the Islamic Republic “does not interfere in the decisions of other countries, including Palestine.”
Under cover of a large rocket bombardment, Palestinian militants from the Hamas jihadist organization, which is backed by Iran and governs the Gaza Strip, infiltrated Israel early on Saturday.
Over 1,100 people have died in the conflict thus far, with Israel reporting over 700 deaths and the Palestinians placing their death toll at 430.
One of the first nations to applaud the Hamas attack was Iran, which does not recognize Israel and has made backing the Palestinian cause a key component of its foreign policy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Without any assistance from Tehran, Kanani claimed that the Palestinians had “the necessary capacity and will to defend their nation and recover their rights.”
The spokesman continued, “Talking about an Iranian role aims at turning public opinion (away from the facts) and at justifying the potential future actions” of Israel.
In a statement released tonight, Iran’s permanent representation to the UN further refuted claims that the Islamic Republic played any part in the Hamas attack.
It happened after the Wall Street Journal cited senior leaders of Hamas and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon as saying that “Iranian security officials helped plan Hamas’s Saturday surprise attack on Israel and gave the green light for the assault at a meeting in Beirut last Monday.”
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran stated on Sunday that Iran supports the Palestinians’ right to self-defense and that Israel must be held accountable for jeopardizing the area.
Raisi, who has spoken with the leaders of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad organization based in Gaza since the Hamas attack, also asked Muslim states to “support the Palestinian nation.”
It is still too early to determine whether Iran was “directly” involved in the Hamas attack, a US source said on Sunday, but there is little question that the group was “financed, equipped, and armed” by nations including Iran.
Source- Arab News
