“From the military and intelligence aspects, this defeat is irreparable,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told an audience of Iranian military cadets, per Iranian media. “It is a devastating earthquake. It is unlikely that the usurping regime will be able to use the help of the West to repair the deep impacts that this incident has left on its ruling structures.”
Iran has functioned as a longtime patron of Palestinian terrorist organizations, including Hamas, as well as Lebanese Hezbollah on Israel’s northern border. Those relationships underpin the question of Iranian regime involvement in the Hamas attack unleashed on Saturday and, with it, the potential for the crisis to expand into a multifront war, but Khamenei disclaimed any direct responsibility.
“We kiss the foreheads and arms of skillful and intelligent designers and Palestinian youth, but those who say that the recent epic is the work of non-Palestinians suffer from miscalculation,” Khamenei said. (Read More)
