"Iran was not involved in the terrorist attack on Israel," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, said on Tuesday.
Despite his claim, Khamenei welcomed what he described as "Israel's military and intelligence defeat." Speaking to Iranian television, he said: "We kiss the hands of those who planned the attack on the Zionist regime."
"What this city went through is simply a disaster": Sderot on the second day of the attack // Reporter: Neta Bar, Photo: Shmuel Buchris
His comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Iran helped Hamas plan the attack on Israel and even gave it the green light during a meeting Iranian security officials held with senior Hamas and Hezbollah officials in Beirut, Lebanon last week.
Over the past few weeks, Iranian officers have worked with Hamas to locate breaches into Israel from the sea, air and land. The report comes against the backdrop of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's statement that the United States has not seen direct or indirect evidence of Iranian involvement in the attack, as he told the American news network CNN.
A U.S. official said they had no verification of the meeting cited in the report.
Hamas operatives (archive), photo: Majdi Fathi/TPS
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