Iran’s Khamenei lauds Hamas attack on Israel, again denies involvement

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday denied any Iranian involvement in Hamas’s weekend massacre in Israel despite Tehran’s strong support for the Palestinian terrorist group.

“The supporters of the Zionist regime [Israel] and some people in the usurping regime have been spreading rumors over the past two or three days, including that Islamic Iran was behind this action. They are wrong,” Khamenei said in a speech at a military academy.

“Of course, we defend Palestine, we defend the struggles,” he added, urging “the whole Islamic world” to “support the Palestinians.”

Khamenei said Israel has suffered an “irreparable failure” on both “military and intelligence” fronts.

“Everyone has spoken of the failure, I put the emphasis on its irreparability,” he said.

Iran took the lead on Saturday in celebrating the Hamas assault, in which at least 1,500 gunmen stormed the border before carrying out a bloody rampage through Israeli communities that left more than 900 dead.

The IDF said it was the single deadliest event in the nation’s history, and has responded with a ferocious bombardment of Gaza, where officials say at least 687 people have been killed.