TEHERAN, KOMPAS.com – Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly told Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh earlier this month that Iran will not go to war against Israel.
Khamenei argued that Tehran was not given advance notice of the October 7 attack.
In a report citing three senior officials, Reuters said Khamenei had told Haniyeh that although Iran would offer political support to Hamas, his country would not intervene directly in the struggle.
Also read: Reasons Why Iran Is Carried In The Israel-Hamas War
The Iranian leader also reportedly asked Haniyeh to silence voices in Hamas calling on Iran and its proxy group, Hezbollah, to directly join the war against Israel with full force.
The report said Hezbollah was also shocked by the attack.
“We woke up to war,” said an unnamed Lebanese group commander.
The war erupted when Hamas stormed from Gaza into southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 240 hostages in the deadliest attack in the Jewish state’s history.
Israel then launched air and ground strikes, vowing to eliminate the military and the group in the Gaza Strip, where they have ruled since 2007.
Since the conflict began, there have been a series of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, as well as near-daily firefights on the Israel-Lebanon border between Hezbollah and the IDF.
But Hezbollah has refrained from launching a major campaign, and Israel has also attempted to take decisive action, responding with significant firepower to attacks and attempted attacks.
Also read: Iranian Teenager Dies Again After Being Arrested by Moral Police
Continuous fighting along the border has resulted in three civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of six IDF soldiers.
On the Lebanese side, nearly 100 people were killed.
The fatalities included at least 74 Hezbollah members, eight members of the Palestinian group, a number of civilians and one Reuters journalist.
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Meanwhile, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have fired several missiles at Israel but were either intercepted in the Red Sea or missed their targets.
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2023-11-16 14:00:00
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