Iran has reevaluated its earlier statement regarding the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel, distancing itself from earlier remarks that suggested the attacks were a retaliation for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani four years ago. The Iranian General clarified on Wednesday that his earlier comments were "misunderstood and incompletely conveyed," according to media reports.
The spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Ramazan Sharif, had initially attempted to connect the Hamas attacks, known as Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, to the 2020 US drone strike in Iraq that killed Gen. Soleimani. Sharif also warned of a potential military response from Iran, either directly or indirectly, in light of the killing of a top Iranian military advisor by Israel.
A 2020 memorandum from the US Justice Department described Soleimani as a key figure behind Iran's campaign of terrorism in the Middle East. The Iranian government, a known supporter of Hamas, has consistently denied involvement in the October attacks that claimed the lives of 1,200 Israelis along the Gaza border. Hamas, in a statement, rejected Sharif's attempt to link the attacks to Iran, asserting that the primary motive was to address the "dangers that threaten al-Aqsa Mosque" in Jerusalem amid clashes between Israeli settlers and Muslim worshippers.
Despite the retraction of the initial statement, Sharif maintained Iran's commitment to a strong military response following the Israeli airstrike that targeted and killed Iranian Brig. Gen. Razi Mousavi. Israel accused Mousavi of playing a key role in supplying weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah.
In a separate development, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu engaged in a verbal clash over Erdogan's comparison of Israeli actions against Hamas to those of Adolf Hitler. Netanyahu responded by accusing Erdogan of genocide against Kurds and criticized his record on opposition journalists. The exchange escalated as Erdogan defended his position, and Netanyahu, along with war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, dismissed Erdogan's remarks as distortions of reality and a disrespect to the memory of the Holocaust.
(With Agency Inputs)
