Did the Revolutionary Guards confuse Tehran’s narrative about the “Al-Aqsa Flood”?
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards spokesman greatly shook Iran’s narrative about the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operations last October 7, saying that it was part of the response to the killing of the mastermind of Iranian foreign operations and the architect of its regional strategy, Qassem Soleimani, which was denied by the “Al-Aqsa Flood” movement. Hamas,” before the Revolutionary Guards retreated relatively. In a press conference, the spokesman for the Revolutionary Guard, Ramadan Sharif, answered questions related to the role of Radhi Mousavi, the official responsible for supplying the Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria, who was killed in an attack on his residence, south of Damascus, on Monday.
Sharif said, “The Al-Aqsa Flood operation, which cost Israel 200 brigade commanders and more than 1,500 soldiers, was one of the retaliatory operations taken by the axis of resistance, and it is certain that these retaliations will continue at different times and places” against Israel for the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the mastermind of foreign operations. The Iranian engineer, the engineer of its regional strategy, was killed by a US air strike in Baghdad, early 2020.
Later, the Revolutionary Guards media distributed a brief statement indicating a partial amendment to the speaker’s statements. The statement quoted him as saying, “The results of (Al-Aqsa Flood) are part of revenge for the assassination of General Soleimani.” Tasnim Agency indicated that the amendment came as a result of a “misunderstanding” of the speaker’s statements.
Before the Guards retreated, Hamas was quick to refute the statements of the Revolutionary Guards spokesman regarding the motives behind the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation. She said in a statement: “We have repeatedly emphasized the motives and reasons for Operation (Al-Aqsa Flood), foremost among which are the dangers threatening Al-Aqsa Mosque,” and added that “all Palestinian resistance actions come in response to the presence of the occupation and its continued aggression against our people and our sanctities.”
On Tuesday evening, Tehran’s representative in Parliament, MP Mojtaba Twanger, wrote on the “X” platform that Mousavi “played an important role in strengthening the infrastructure of the resistance front in Syria,” adding: “We can say with confidence that he was one of the precursors of the Al-Aqsa Flood attack in Last October 7.
“Error in calculations”
This clearly contradicts the official Iranian position on the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack and its motives. On October 10, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei denied his country’s involvement in the Hamas attack on Israel, and described the accusations against Iran as “rumors from supporters of the Zionist entity” and a “miscalculation.”
Hours before Khamenei’s speech, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied a report published by the Wall Street Journal, which stated that senior officers in the Revolutionary Guard had participated in planning the Hamas attack since last August. Tehran described the report as “politically motivated.”
It quoted sources in Hamas and Hezbollah that Iranian officials gave the green light to attack Israel in a meeting held days before the attack. She referred to weekly meetings held by the commander of the Quds Force, Ismail Qaani, with leaders of armed groups loyal to Iran.
Khamenei was implicitly confirming a statement by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on October 8, in which he said: “We have not yet seen evidence that Iran is behind this attack.”
After Khamenei’s denial, the majority of Iranian officials’ positions regarding its possible role in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack revolved around denying Tehran’s interference in the decisions of armed groups, especially the Hamas movement.
A tripartite meeting between Abdullahian, Ziad Al-Nakhalah, Secretary-General of Islamic Jihad, and Saleh Al-Arouri, head of the Hamas office in Beirut early last September (Iranian Foreign Ministry)
The first comments came from Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, hours after Khamenei’s speech. Abdullahian announced, in a meeting with a group of representatives of Islamic countries, the opening of a new page for the “Resistance Movement.” By launching “preemptive” attacks to respond to systematic Israeli attacks. He indicated that he discussed the issue with the leaders of the “resistance” during his visit to Beirut in early September.
On October 12, Abdullahian went to Baghdad and spoke for the first time about the possibilities of expanding the scope of the war. He said in a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sawadni that “no one asks our permission in the region to open new fronts.”
On October 25, the Wall Street Journal quoted intelligence sources as saying that about 500 members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements had received combat training weeks before the attack.
The publication of the report coincided with the presence of the Iranian Foreign Minister at the United Nations General Assembly meeting. Abdullahian said on October 26 that America “will not be spared from this fire” if the Gaza war continues, adding that armed groups “have their fingers on the trigger.”
In mid-November, Reuters reported, citing three senior officials, that Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei called on the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, during his unannounced visit to Tehran, to silence the voices demanding Iran and Hezbollah. “By intervening in the war. Reuters sources attributed to Khamenei that Tehran did not enter the war on behalf of Hamas, because it was not informed of the October 7 attack.
The sources also said that Iran will not directly intervene in the conflict unless it is itself attacked by Israel or the United States, but that Iran’s rulers want to use armed groups to launch missile and drone attacks on Israeli and American targets across the Middle East. Later, Iranian officials and Hamas denied the Reuters report.
The day after the report was published, Iranian media circulated a letter from the commander of the Quds Force, Ismail Qaani, addressing the commander of the Qassam Brigades, Muhammad al-Deif, in which he pledged that Iran and its allies would do “everything that must be done in this battle.” On the same day, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, Hossein Salami, threatened other attacks similar to the Hamas attack last October 7.
He said: “Just as the enemy received a blow that was not expected, he must wait for other floods, in unexpected ways.”
Revenge against Israel
Sharif said that his country “will not abandon confrontation with the Zionist entity, and will pursue this path seriously,” stressing that “this mission is managed by the Armed Staff and the Supreme National Security Council.”
Sharif stated that Israel “is trying to make the Gaza war a conflict between Iran and America,” adding that “the Israelis are seeking to spread conflict in the region because of their strategic defeat.”
He added that his forces would respond to the killing of the IRGC supply official in Syria, Radhi Mousavi, adding that “it is certain that we will respond to the Israeli assassination directly from the (resistance) front,” and that “the Islamic Republic reserves its right to take difficult revenge.”
Radhi Mousavi, responsible for the “supplies” of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria, who died in an air strike south of Damascus (Khabar Online)
He said, “The assassination of Mousavi is a continuation of the violation of international laws by the Zionists,” calling on international groups to stop this path “so that international peace and security are not exposed to danger more than they already are.”
The spokesman pointed out that Mousavi “was responsible for empowering and supporting the (resistance) axis for more than 25 years, and was one of the elite (Revolutionary Guard) advisors.” He added: “He had valuable experience in preparing the (resistance) front and provided great assistance to the Islamic Republic’s diplomacy in Syria and Lebanon.”
In this context, he said: “The resistance front’s logistical empowerment in various fields has moved far away from what it was in the past, as a result of Radhi Mousavi’s efforts in transferring equipment and technology.”
Sharif noted in part of his statements that his forces “actually took revenge on Israel,” in response to targeted assassinations of those linked to the Iranian nuclear program, “but they were not authorized to publish them in the media.” He added: “If you assassinate a senior Israeli officer today (as happened in previous reprisals), this will not be allowed to be covered in the media.”
The commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Hussein Salami, said on Wednesday that Mousavi “has always supported the entire resistance front.”
For his part, Mansour Haqiqatpour, the former deputy leader of the Quds Force, told Tasnim Agency that “even Hafez al-Assad was receiving help from Reza Mousavi.” The Revolutionary Guard says he has been residing in Syria since 1978.
The funeral of Radhi Mousavi, the head of supplies for the Revolutionary Guards in Syria, in Najaf today (AP)
Iranian media broadcast pictures of the funeral prayer being held over the body of Radhi Mousavi in the Iraqi city of Najaf, announcing that he will be buried in the cemetery of the Tajrish area, north of Tehran, after his body heads to the city of Mashhad, in the northeast of the country.
The Iranian ambassador to Iraq, Muhammad Al Sadiq, who participated in the funeral, told Agence France-Presse that the killing of Mousavi “is another crime added to the record of crimes of the Zionist enemy, which has begun to flounder, without achieving any victory.” “Whether military or political.”
Participants in the funeral, including clerics, members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, and Iranian visitors, also carried the flags of the Mobilization Forces, an alliance of Iraqi factions loyal to Iran that have become part of the official forces.
The Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, in New York, Saeed Irani, sent a letter to the presidency of the Security Council, in which he said that “Iran reserves its legitimate and subjective right, on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter, to respond firmly, at the appropriate time,” according to what the IRNA news agency reported. » Official.
Iranian Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said, “Israel committed a strategic mistake, and their crimes will not remain unanswered.” He said, “The Zionist entity will commit any crime in order to gain time to prevent the inevitable collapse as the scope of the war expands to the region.”
For his part, MP Shahryar Heydari, a member of the National Security Committee in Parliament, said that his country “will respond to America and Israel by closing the sea straits.”
At the beginning of this month, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged obstructing ships heading to Israel and cutting off its energy supplies. After Khamenei’s speech, the Houthi group launched a series of attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The United States accused Iran of launching a march on a chemical tanker linked to Israel and headed to India.
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2023-12-28 10:50:28
