Pentagon spokesman said Iran is ‘complicit’ in Hamas attack on Israel but there was no direct evidence yet.

The statement comes after Iran’s mission to the United Nations said on Sunday that Tehran was not involved in the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel which has killed over 1,300 people so far. More than 800 people have died in Israel and around 560 in Gaza. Many others have been injured. According to the United Nations, 1.23 lakh have been displaced so far. 

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“The resolute measures taken by Palestine constitute a wholly legitimate defense against seven decades of oppressive occupation and heinous crimes committed by the illegitimate Zionist regime,” Iran’s U.N. mission said in a statement.

However, it is an open secret that Iran has backed Hamas, with funding and help in arming the group, as well as another Palestinian militant organization Islamic Jihad.

The attack brought on by Hamas on Israel on Saturday is considered to be the biggest incursion into Israel in decades. It coincided with moves to push Saudi Arabia towards normalizing ties with Israel – a move backed by the US – in return for a defense deal between Washington and Riyadh. The move would essentially end the kingdom’s rapprochement with Tehran.

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“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,” Iran’s U.N. mission said.

It added that the “success” of the Hamas operation was because Israel was taken by surprise, which makes it the “biggest failure” of the country’s security organizations. “They are attempting to justify their failure and attribute it to Iran’s intelligence power and operational planning,” Iran’s U.N. mission said.