Eurasia Press & News
Iran is the main financial backer of Hamas. Its proxies across the region have increased attacks on US and Israeli targets in recent weeks.
As the month-long Israel-Hamas war continues, Ismail Haniyeh, chief of Hamas’ political bureau, met recently with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, according to Iranian state media.
Iranian media outlets did not reveal the exact date of the meeting. Iran’s state TV reported on Sunday that Haniyeh “briefed Khamenei on the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza, as well as the developments in the West Bank.”
According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Khamenei “strongly condemned the crimes committed by the Zionist regime with the direct support of the US and some Western countries.”
Osama Hamdan, Hamas’ representative in Lebanon and senior member of the group’s political wing, first revealed Haniyeh’s visit to Iran in a statement to the pro-Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen TV on Saturday. He did not say when the meeting was held or provide further details on the talks.
The meeting comes one month after Israel unleashed a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,500 people, according to Israel’s public broadcaster. More than 10,000 Palestinians, including more than 4,000 children, have been killed in the subsequent Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Israeli troops are expected to enter Gaza City soon, the Associated Press reported on Monday, citing Israeli news reports.
Iran is the main backer of Hamas and reports emerged at the onset of the war that the Islamic Republic had greenlit the attack on Israeli communities. Tehran has denied that it played a role in the massive assault.
Since Oct. 7, Iran’s proxies across the region have upped attacks against US and Israeli targets. The Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired several drones and missiles toward Israel. A US Navy guided-missile destroyer in the northern Red Sea, the USS Carney, has shot down multiple missiles fired by the Houthis toward Israel.
The so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, has claimed responsibility for a series of drone and missile attacks against US military bases in Iraq and Syria in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement has engaged in cross-border fire with Israel, though Israeli officials believe the group is not interested in a significant escalation.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based monitoring group, reported on Monday that a meeting took place in eastern Syria between leaders from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Hezbollah, though it did not say when the meeting occurred.
According to sources cited by the group, the meeting was held in al-Bukamal city in the east of Deir ez-Zor province to discuss support for the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Hamas. No further details were provided.
According to information obtained by SOHR, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq is operated by prominent IRGC figures and Hezbollah to target US military bases in northeastern Syria.
Meanwhile, in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Tehran on Monday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi accused Washington of encouraging Israel “to kill and commit cruel acts of neglect against the Palestinian people.”
“These horrible crimes against humanity are a genocide, which is carried out by the Zionist regime with the support of the US and certain European countries,” he said during a joint press conference with Sudani.
