Iran’s Supreme Leader Tells Hamas Not to Count on Direct Iranian Intervention, As Conflict with Israel Escalates
Iran’s supreme leader delivered a clear message to the head of Hamas when they met in Tehran in early November, according to three senior officials: You gave us no warning of your Oct. 7 attack on Israel and we will not enter the war on your behalf.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Ismail Haniyeh that Iran, a longtime backer of Hamas, would continue to lend the group its political and moral support, but wouldn’t intervene directly, said the Iranian and Hamas officials.
The supreme leader pressed Haniyeh to silence those voices in the Palestinian group publicly calling for Iran and its powerful Lebanese ally Hezbollah to join the battle against Israel in full force, a Hamas official told Reuters.
The unfolding crisis marks the first time that the so-called Axis of Resistance – a military alliance built by Iran over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East – has mobilized on multiple fronts at the same time.
Hezbollah, too, was taken by surprise by Hamas’ devastating assault last month that killed 1200 Israelis; its fighters were not even on alert in villages near the border that were frontlines in its 2006 war with Israel.
Hints of frustration surfaced in subsequent public statements by Hamas leaders including Khaled Meshaal, who in an Oct. 16 TV interview thanked Hezbollah for its actions thus far but said “the battle requires more.”
Alliance leader Iran won’t directly intervene in the conflict unless it is itself attacked by Israel or the United States, according to officials with direct knowledge of Tehran’s thinking who declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the matter.
Instead, Iran’s clerical rulers plan to continue using their axis network of armed allies, including Hezbollah, to launch rocket and drone attacks on Israeli and American targets across the Middle East, the officials said.
The strategy is a calibrated effort to demonstrate solidarity for Hamas in Gaza and stretch Israeli forces without becoming engaged in a direct confrontation with Israel that could draw in the United States, they added.
Hezbollah, which is also a political movement deeply involved in Lebanese government affairs, knows Lebanon can ill afford another war with Israel.
Amid the conflict, U.S. officials say America has conducted three sets of retaliatory strikes against facilities in Syria used by militias linked to Iran.
Israel didn’t seek any spread of hostilities but added that the country was prepared to fight on new fronts if needed to protect itself. They said security officials deemed the most potent immediate threat to Israel came from Hezbollah.
The Israeli prime minister’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment for this article.
Enmity runs deep between Israel and Iran. Iran does not recognize Israel’s existence, while Israel has long threatened military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb its disputed nuclear activity.
In the current crisis, real politik may prevail for Tehran, according to experts.
Iran has shown a four-decade commitment to fighting America and Israel without entering into direct conflict. The regime’s revolutionary ideology is based on opposition to America and Israel, but its leaders are not suicidal, they want to stay in power.