[1/5]Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reviews the armed forces during a graduation ceremony for armed forces officers at the Imam Ali Academy in Tehran, Iran, October 10, 2023. Office of the Supreme Leader of Iran/WANA (West Asia News Agency) acquires via Portal License Rights
DUBAI, Oct 10 (Portal) – Tehran was not involved in the militant Hamas group’s weekend attack on Israel, Iran’s top authority Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Tuesday, but hailed what he called “irreparable” military and intelligence failures Defeat of Israel.
“We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime,” Khamenei, wearing a Palestinian scarf, said in his first televised address since the attack.
“This destructive earthquake (Hamas attack) has destroyed some critical structures (in Israel) that cannot be easily repaired… The Zionist regime’s own actions are responsible for this disaster,” Khamenei said.
Israel has long accused Iran’s clerical rulers of fomenting violence by supplying arms to Hamas. Tehran, which does not recognize Israel, says it provides moral and financial support to the group that controls the Gaza Strip.
Support for the Palestinian cause has been a pillar of the Islamic Republic since the 1979 revolution and one way the Shiite-dominated country has established itself as the leader of the Muslim world.
The United States said on Monday that Iran was complicit in Hamas’ attack on Israel, but added that it had no intelligence or evidence to support that claim. The top US general warned Iran on Monday against interfering in the crisis, saying he did not want the conflict to spread.
Israel said earlier Tuesday it had reestablished control of the Gaza border and was laying mines where militants collapsed the barrier during their bloody weekend assault, after another night of relentless Israeli airstrikes on the enclave.
Khamenei said an attack on Gaza would “trigger a much stronger wave of anger.”
“The occupying regime is trying to portray itself as a victim in order to further escalate its crimes… this is a wrong calculation… it will lead to an even greater catastrophe,” Khamenei said.
Israeli television channels reported the death toll from the Hamas attack had risen to 900, with at least 2,600 injured. Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 687 Palestinians have been killed and 3,726 injured in Israeli airstrikes on the blockaded enclave since Saturday.
(This story has been re-archived to remove a redundant word in paragraph 6)
Additional reporting: Elwely Elwelly in Dubai, writing by Parisa Hafezi; Edited by Andrew Heavens, Gareth Jones and Bernadette Baum
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