Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani claimed that any threat would be met with a “devastating response”, after the country has been blamed for the fighting between Hamas and Israel, ISNA reported.
Some foreign media and Western politicians blamed Iran for the scale and complexity of the Hamas operation in the south. Militants broke down the fence separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, taking dozens of Israeli men, women and children hostage.
Nasser Kanaani warned at a press briefing on October 9 of the legal consequences of such threatening remarks against Israel, a member of the international community and the United Nations.
“The Islamic Republic’s hands have never been tied in defending its national security and the rights of its nation and has always acted in a definitive manner and caused [the aggressors’] regret.”
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas launched a sudden attack on Israel on October 7, firing rockets from the Gaza Strip. Armed men infiltrated several Israeli towns, shooting and taking hundreds of people hostage.
A day after, Israel officially declared a state of war and launched retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, while exchanges of fire between security forces and Palestinian militants continued in southern Israel.
The Wall Street Journal reported on October 8 that Iran assisted in planning the Hamas attack, but Kanaani immediately denied the accusations, saying that Iran had no role in the decision-making of any regional party, including the Palestinian nation.
So far as we are concerned, we consider the resistance of Palestinian people legitimate.
The Foreign Ministry spokesperson believes that such statements are made for various political motives and to justify Tel Aviv’s defeat as well as Western support for the attackers.
Iran’s mission to the UN added on social media on October 8 that Tehran was not involved in the attack on Israel.
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.
The mission statement also said that Palestinians had a full and legitimate right to defend themselves.
“The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defence against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime.”
US State Secretary Antony Blinken stated on October 9 that the White House did not yet have proof of Iranian involvement in the attack, “but there is certainly a long relationship.”
But some Republican leaders, such as Republican Senator Lyndsey Graham, have named Iran as the perpetrator of the attack and called for Tehran to be held accountable.
Graham stated on X, formerly Twitter, that “Iran should pay dearly for any escalation directed at Israel.”
“An attack by Hezbollah, and other Iranian proxies would be devastating to Israeli defence systems. If such an attack occurs, Israel and the United States should go after the Iranian oil refineries and oil infrastructure – which is the lifeblood of the Iranian economy.”
