Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday refuted any Iranian involvement in the surprising weekend attack by Hamas on Israel, even though Iran has been a staunch supporter of the Palestinian group.
“The supporters of the Zionist regime (Israel) and some people in the usurping regime have been spreading rumours over the past two or three days, including that Islamic Iran was behind this action. They are wrong,” Khamenei said in a speech at a military academy.The Israeli military deemed it the most lethal incident in the nation’s history and has retaliated with an intense bombardment of Gaza, where authorities report that a minimum of 687 individuals have lost their lives.
“Of course, we defend Palestine, we defend the struggles,” he added, urging “the whole Islamic world” to “support the Palestinians.”
Khamenei stated that Israel has experienced an irreversible setback in terms of both its military and intelligence capabilities.
“Everyone has spoken of the failure, I put the emphasise on its irreparability,” he said.
Iran assumed a leading role in celebrating the Hamas attack on Saturday, during which over 1,500 armed individuals breached the border and carried out a violent incursion into Israeli communities, resulting in the tragic loss of over 900 lives.
