Iranian representatives to the United Nations deny any involvement in planning or carrying out the Hamas attack on Israel, Reuters reports.
"We strongly support Palestine, but we are not involved in the Palestinian response, as this decision is made only by Palestine itself," Iranian representatives to the UN said.
They consider the Hamas attack to be a "decisive action by Palestine" and a "legitimate defense" against the occupation and crimes of the "Zionist regime" for seventy years. Iran said that the success of the Hamas operation was due to surprise and called it the "biggest failure" of Israeli security forces.
A source close to Hamas told Reuters that the organization has been conducting a long-term campaign to deceive Israel and create the impression that it is not seeking armed conflict.
Earlier, The Wall Street Journal, citing information from Hamas and the Lebanese organization Hezbollah, reported that Iranian security services helped Palestinian militants plan an attack on Israel. Representatives of the groups claim that Iran "gave the green light" for the attack during a meeting in Beirut on October 2.
