Iran Is Complicit in Hamas Attack On Israel, US Says
The US considers Iran ‘at least complicit’ in Hamas attack on Israel, the State Department said Tuesday, after insisting it had no evidence of Tehran's direct involvement.
The US considers Iran ‘at least complicit’ in Hamas attack on Israel, the State Department said Tuesday, after insisting it had no evidence of Tehran's direct involvement.
Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters the Biden administration is now trying to establish if the regime in Iran or elements within the system contributed to the planning of the attack by Hamas militants.
“Iran likely knew that Hamas was planning operations against Israel, but without the precise timing or scope of what occurred,” Miller told journalists at the State Department’s press briefing.
The Islamic Republic has been supporting Hamas for many years. It’s not yet established, however, how far the IRGC was involved in Hamas’ most recent operation.
Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas spokesman, told the BBC that the group had direct backing for the attack on Israel from Iran. A report in Wall Street Journal suggested the same, quoting unnamed sources from Hamas and Hezbollah.
Iran has denied involvement in the operation, which has killed more than 1,200 Israelis. “They say the Islamic Iran was behind this move… they are wrong… Palestinians did it themselves,” said Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei Tuesday.
On numerous occasions before, he has boasted that his regime has had a hand in confrontations against Israel (like the 33-day War with Hezbollah in 2006) and that Iran will keep on helping “any group that fights the Zionist regime.”
The extent of the regime’s involvement in the Hamas attack, if and when it’s established, would likely inform the nature of the response from Israel and the United States. Many in Washington are already pushing for retaliatory measures, including re-freezing the $6 billion of Iran’s old revenue that was unblocked last month to secure the release of five Iranian-Americans held hostage in Tehran.
US Senators have written to President Biden, demanding that access to the money (currently held in a Qatari bank) be denied.
“The State Department should immediately rescind the waivers that allowed Iranian funds converted and moved to more accessible bank accounts,” reads the lawmakers’ letter to Biden, “as well as work with US ally Qatar to immediately freeze the accounts containing these funds.”
The signatories believe that the $6 billion, even if used solely and entirely for humanitarian purposes, would free up other funds in Iran to be used on other, ‘malign’ activities.
Responding to this argument, the State Department Spokesperson said he could confirm that “not a cent” of the $6 billion has been spent at this point. “And we have the ability to freeze it at any time,” Miller concluded.
Hamas’ attack on Israel has enraged those who believe they had warned the Biden administration of the consequences of its lenient approach to the regime in Iran.
“Concessions to the ayatollahs have made them believe America will not stand up for itself or our allies,” Senator Tom Cotton told Fox News Tuesday, “President Biden must reverse his policies that have emboldened Iran and its terrorist proxies.”
It seems to be an attack line the Republicans would not abandon soon.
“Make no mistake— Hamas's genocidal violence was partly enabled by Biden unfreezing billions of dollars to Iran,” Senator Ted Cruz said Tuesday.
Tim Scott, another Republican Senator who is a ranking member of the Senate Committee on Banking, called for a hearing and an investigation into the ‘release of the $6 billion to Iran’.
“We should be signaling strength - not leniency - when it comes to Iran,” Senator Scott said in a statement Tuesday, “that’s why now is the time to pass my Solidify Iran Sanctions Act and send the message that Iran should not expect U.S. sanctions to lapse.”
Mostafa Nili, in a tweet, explained that he was informed at the prisoners' visiting hall, after a considerable wait to see his client, that prison authorities had decided not to allow Mohammadi to meet him, ultimately forcing him to leave.
Mohammadi, a prominent human rights activist and physicist who was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, is well-known for her vocal criticism of the Islamic Republic, particularly its compulsory hijab laws and various human rights violations, including the death penalty.
In a phone call quoted on an Instagram account authorized by Mohammadi, she stated that a prison guard had assaulted, threatened, and verbally abused her for not wearing the hijab. This incident took place in the prison clinic in September, in the presence of some prison authorities, resulting in bruises as she was dragged to the prison courtyard. She added that she protested against the maltreatment of another prisoner by shouting that prison guards had no right to threaten inmates and even climbed on a car while chanting "Down with the Islamic Republic."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which recognized Mohammadi for her "fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all," has called for her release.
In a letter addressed to the European Parliament, Mohammadi reiterated her view that the Islamic Republic is a religious dictatorship and anti-women, urging for "maximum pressure" on the regime to ensure its compliance with human rights and to support Iranian women in their struggle.
Over the past few months, Mohammadi, 51, has penned several letters from Evin Prison, where she has been serving a twelve-year sentence since November 2021 for charges including "propaganda against the Islamic Republic." She has consistently denied these charges, which were brought against her after she issued a statement against the death penalty.
As the co-founder and chairperson of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, Mohammadi has been detained and imprisoned multiple times over the past two decades.
Officials of the Islamic Republic, including Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani, have condemned Mohammadi's Nobel Peace Prize as a "politically motivated move" and accused Western governments, including Norway, of pursuing "anti-Iranian and interventionist policies."
Ultra-hardline media outlets, such as the IRGC-affiliated Javan newspaper, have labeled her a "separatist, pro-sanctions Iranian."
Mohammadi has, on various occasions, opposed Western economic sanctions on Iran, arguing that these, combined with the government's economic inefficiency, have led to the impoverishment of the Iranian people and weakened their power. However, she has defended sanctions and travel restrictions imposed on Islamic Republic officials for human rights violations.
In an address to the nation from the White House, he also expressed concerns about the Americans being held hostage by the Iranian-backed Islamist group as well as the death of at least 11 Americans in the multi-thronged invasion on October 7.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “We believe that there are 20 or more Americans who at this point are missing, but I want to underscore and stress that does not mean necessarily that there are 20 or more American hostages. Just that is the number who are currently unaccounted for."
In his deeply emotional speech, Biden emphasized that the US has Israel’s back, saying, "This is an act of sheer evil.”
"There are moments in this life and I mean this literally when the pure unadulterated evil is unleashed on this world. The people of Israel lived through one such moment this weekend," he stated.
"So in this moment, we must be crystal clear. We stand with Israel. Let me say again to any country, any organization, anyone thinking of taking advantage of this situation, I have one word. Don't. Don't!"
Biden's warning can be seen a reminder to the Iranian regime and its most powerful proxy force, the Lebanese Hezbollah, which again traded fire with Israel on Tuesday, as the fighting in and around Gaza was continuing. Earlier, the Chairman of the US joint chiefs, Gen, Charles Brown warned Iran not to get involved in the conflict.
Biden, who spoke after his third phone call in four days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, highlighted in his remarks the US military assistance being sent to help Israel in its fight.
Biden also offered an overview of the actions the United States is taking with allies around the world to support Israel.
Biden also offered support for American Jews and said they should be allowed to worship in peace in the United States. Biden said last month that antisemitism in the United States had risen to record levels.
He added that US law enforcement agencies were taking steps to disrupt any domestic threat that may emerge after Hamas' weekend attack. The FBI said earlier it was "closely monitoring unfolding events" but added it "does not have specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel."
The United States does not plan to put American military forces on the ground, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Israel has called up an unprecedented 300,000 of its own reservists.
Israel's embassy in Washington said the death toll from Hamas' weekend attacks had surpassed 1,000, dwarfing all modern Islamist attacks on the West since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Earlier, Israel’s military announced that the country’s border is under control after hours of fighting and airstrikes Tuesday. Brig. Gen. Dan Goldfuss of the 98th Division said the military is now “moving into the offensive … to change the reality within Gaza to prevent such a thing from happening again.”