Report: Iran Helped Hamas Plan Attack on Israel

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Facts

  • The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday that militant group Hamas' Saturday attacks were planned with the help of Iranian officials, while the final go-ahead was given in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Oct. 2.1
  • The report — citing sources from Gaza Strip-based Hamas and Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah — alleged that members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been planning the assault since August.2
  • However, while Iran has long been known to be one of Hamas' principal financial backers, a US official quoted by the Wall Street Journal said: 'We don't have any information at this time to corroborate th[e] account' that the attacks were backed by Tehran.3
  • In an interview with CNN, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared a similar message: 'We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there is certainly a long relationship.'4
  • This comes after Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had vowed to 'eradicate' the 'usurper Zionist regime' — which he claimed was 'full of spite and anger' — at the International Islamic Unity Conference last week.5
  • Meanwhile, Iran's mission to the UN has denied its role in Hamas' attacks on Israel, saying: 'We emphatically stand in unflinching support of Palestine; however, we are not involved in Palestine's response, as it is taken solely by Palestine itself.'6

Sources: 1Wall Street Journal, 2New York Post, 3FOX News, 4CNBC, 5Khamenei.ir and 6Reuters.

Narratives

  • Anti-Iran narrative, as provided by New York Post. It's a no-brainer that Iran helped Hamas carry out the brutal attacks against Israel. The group is financially dependent on Iran and doesn't make critical decisions without the country's explicit backing.
  • Pro-Iran narrative, as provided by Mehr news agency. While Iran unequivocally supports Palestine's legitimate efforts to bring seven decades of oppressive and illegal occupation of its territory by Israel to an end, Saturday's attacks — which reveal the failure of Israel's security organizations — were nothing to do with Tehran.

Predictions