Iran denies involvement in Israel attack

Iran has denied reports that its security forces helped plan Hamas’s attack on Israel and gave approval for it to take place, the Daily Telegraph said.

Two members of the terrorist groups Hamas and Hisbollah told the Wall Street Journal that Saturday’s deadly attack, which has killed 700 people, was planned in meetings with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from August.

The newspaper said a final go-ahead was given by Iranian officials at a meeting in Beirut last Monday with representatives from Hamas, Hisbollah and a Lebanese political faction.

But Iran’s UN mission denied Tehran was involved late on Sunday.

“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 UN mission said.

Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said American officials have not yet seen evidence that Iran was behind the attacks, but the country has long been an enemy of Israel and a supporter of jihadi groups in the region.

Mahmoud Mirdawi, a senior Hamas official, said the attack was a “Palestinian and Hamas decision”, but other officials from Syria and Europe said Iran had been involved.

The news comes after the president of Iran urged Muslim countries to join the attacks on Israel.