Iran was directly involved in the planning of the Saturday terror attack on Israel, which has spurred a war between the country and the Hamas terrorist organization, which operates out of the contested Gaza Strip, according to reports.
Iranian security officials reportedly met with several terrorist entities over months to plan the terrorist attack that saw Hamas invade Israel by way of air, land, and sea, killing civilians and capturing families, the elderly, and young children to bring back to Gaza as hostages. More than 700 have died in Israel, and more than 2,300 are injured, while about 493 people have been killed in Gaza, with 2,751 injured.
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In a Sunday report, the Wall Street Journal alleged that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers met in Beirut, Lebanon, with Hamas last week, giving final approval for the details of the planned attack. The publication cited senior members of Hamas and another Iran-backed terrorist organization based in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
These Iranian officials have been assisting in planning the terror attack since August, according to the Wall Street Journal. Israel’s borders had not been breached in this capacity since the 1973 Yom Kippur War, which started 50 years prior, practically to the day.
Since August, it was reported that several meetings were held in Beirut to discuss plans for the attack. At the meetings were Iranian officers and representatives of four terrorist groups, each supported by Iran. Hamas and Hezbollah were among these groups.
However, a senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Mirdawi, denied Iranian involvement in a statement to the publication. “This is a Palestinian and Hamas decision,” he said.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller was prompted on Iran’s involvement during a Monday morning CNN appearance. “We don’t have any direct intelligence at this point that would show Iran’s direct involvement in this terrorist attack,” he said. “We will continue to examine what information we can about what directly led to these attacks and whether or not Iran or any other country may have been involved, but at this point, we don’t have any evidence to confirm that.”
A senior White House official told reporters Sunday it was too soon to know if Iran had any involvement. It assured reporters it strongly warned any entities hostile to Israel against taking advantage of Israel’s vulnerable position by launching their own attacks. In media appearances on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack.”
The White House did not provide comment to the Washington Examiner on Monday regarding new information about Iran’s involvement.
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Amid reports of Iranian involvement, Republican politicians have criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for a recent prisoner swap deal with the country that saw the United States unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds. The assets had been frozen in South Korea and would have triggered U.S. sanctions.
A chorus of Republicans, including several 2024 presidential candidates, claimed that such a deal emboldened Iran to assist in carrying out the terrorist attack on Israel. However, when asked on Sunday, a senior White House official reiterated to reporters that Iran won’t be able to access the funds itself, and the money is only available for use to pay third-party vendors for humanitarian trade items such as food, agricultural products, medicine, and medical supplies.
