Iran’s support for Hamas fuels suspicion it is wrecking Israel-Saudi deal

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top military adviser said Tehran supported the attacks by Hamas against Israel and would continue to back the Islamist fighters “until the liberation of Palestine and Jerusalem”, the media reported.

The remarks by Yahya Rahim Safavi, a former commander of the country’s Revolutionary Guards, will only fan suspicion that Tehran played a direct role in supporting its traditional ally, Hamas, in the well-planned attacks, Politico reported.

Interventions by Rahim Safavi and other senior Iranian policymakers will also be seen by Iran’s long-running regional rival Saudi Arabia as a threatening signal that Tehran is willing to stir up regional conflict to prevent Riyadh from normalising ties with Israel, as the US wants, Politico reported.

In recent weeks, Iran’s leaders have railed against a US-backed proposed deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, with Khamenei on October 3 saying countries aiming to normalize relations with Israel would be taking a big risk. “The position of the Islamic Republic is that countries that make the gamble of normalization with Israel will lose. They are betting on a losing horse,” Khamenei said. 

Hezbollah, another militant group linked to Iran, also appeared to link Saturday’s violence with the Saudi rapprochement, saying in a statement the attack was a “decisive response to Israel’s continued occupation and a message to those seeking normalisation with Israel.”

The start of the assault, the largest clash since Israel and Hamas fought a 10-day battle in 2021, was announced by Hamas military commander Mohammad Deif. “This is the day of the greatest battle to end the last occupation on earth,” he said, adding that 5,000 rockets had been fired at Israel, Politico reported.

In September, there were meetings in Lebanon between Hamas and Iranian Revolutionaly Guards commanders, according to Jason Brodsky, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute. That provides “some clues as to organization of this assault on Israel today,” he said, Politico reported.

“I believe that the hand of Iran will be found in elements of this,” said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based think tank, Politico reported.