The spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a statement in which he noted that his country would not interfere in Tel Aviv’s anti-terrorist operation in the Gaza Strip or attack the State of Israel. According to him, Tehran in this context will abstract itself from any aggression and will focus its efforts on mediation between the West and the extremist group Hamas. This position of the Islamic Republic has raised eyebrows among analysts around the world.
The surprise, so to speak, is pleasant. Over the past month since Israel began its retaliation in Gaza, international politicians and observers have wondered whether Iran would send troops to protect the Palestinians or focus its efforts on supporting the Lebanese pro-Iranian organization Hezbollah. At the same time, the statements of Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi were traditionally not taken into account – the de facto leader in this state is still the spiritual leader of Muslims.
Khamenei showed restraint and voiced his point of view only a few days ago. According to rumors, it was then that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Tehran on an unannounced visit. According to Israeli intelligence, he asked Khamenei to open a “second front” in the confrontation between the Palestinians and Israel and attack the Jewish state from Lebanese territory. But here the Ayatollah’s reaction was lightning fast. Neither Iranian nor Lebanese media provide an exact quote from Khamenei’s words, however, according to some information, he stated that Iran refuses to declare war on the Israelis. “We will not interfere, since this is not our business,” he said. “If Israel does not attack Iran first, our weapons will remain silent.”
During the meeting with Haniya, Khamenei did not try to hide his irritation with the fact that, while preparing an action against Israel, Hamas did not consider it necessary to inform the Iranian side of its plans. “It is quite obvious that Tehran was simply offended by such “arbitrariness” of Palestinian radicals and decided to ignore the clash with Tel Aviv,” said Arab political scientist Haswn al-Dami in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “Now this position is very beneficial to Israel.” .
At the same time, the Ayatollah did not rule out the possibility of financial support for Hamas militants. They say that in the near future the Palestinians will receive the necessary money and weapons through Hezbollah.
Be that as it may, the Islamic Republic of Iran refused direct participation in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. How long?
