Recently released documents found in Khan Yunis in January have detailed how Hamas reached out to Hezbollah and Iran as part of its plans for the October 7 attack, as revealed by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
Since October 7, Iran has sought to pretend it didn’t know what was coming.
Even before the documents were released, its claims were not bolstered by its reactions to the massacre. Iran encouraged Hezbollah to initiate aerial attacks on October 8, and it enlisted the Houthis to attack Israel and shipping routes in the Red Sea. It also mobilized militias in Iraq and Syria to attack US forces and Israel.
However, Tehran is concerned the documents will serve as more concrete evidence that it was involved, so it is trying to push back.
The Iranian mission to the UN issued a statement this week “dismissing allegations linking the Hamas-led al-Aqsa Storm Operation to the Islamic Republic, saying any such claims have no credibility and are based on fabricated documents.”
Iran also wants to ensure that the picture painted of Qatar – an Iranian ally – is that it did not know either, even though it hosts Hamas leaders.
Iran dismisses claims of Hamas request for $500 million
“While Doha-based Hamas officials have themselves stated that they, too, had no prior knowledge of the operation and that all the planning, decision-making, and directing were solely executed by Hamas’s military wing based in Gaza, any claim attempting to link it to Iran or Hezbollah – either partially or wholly – is devoid of credence and comes from fabricated documents,” the Iranians said over the weekend.
Tehran is distressed by the reports and wants to appear to be acting against them. IRNA reported that the country’s UN mission released a statement in response to “an alleged Israeli document showing a Hamas request for $500 million from Iran, which the newspaper said it did not receive any response from Tehran.”
Iran is trying to pretend these factual reports are “Zionist lies,” but it is making so much noise because it is afraid that more evidence will emerge. The proof is that Iran doesn’t usually issue these kinds of statements. The fact that Iran is moving quickly to contain the fallout shows that it knows it has a potential problem on its hands.
“We consider Israel a criminal, anti-human, and lying regime, and we do not give any credit to its delusions,” the Iranian mission said.
“The Zionists have a long history of spreading lies, fake documents, and psychological operations of deception. Ever since al-Aqsa Storm Operation, which was followed by the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, Iran has, time and again, said that it had no prior knowledge of the operation and called it a fully Palestinian operation.”