Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian informed the press on Saturday that Tehran has not received any request from Palestinian factions to enter the war.
This comes as the office of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei broke its silence regarding statements attributed to him during a meeting with the political bureau chief of Hamas earlier this month, where he emphasized that Iran did not directly enter the war due to not being informed about the Oct. 7 attack beforehand.
A Hezbollah-affiliated weekly released by Khamenei’s office dismissed a report by Reuters on the meeting between Khamenei and Ismail Haniyeh as fundamentally untrue.
The publication mentioned that while the Supreme Leader reaffirmed Iran’s consistent policy during the meeting with Haniyeh, Reuters falsely claimed blame was directed at Haniyeh for not informing Iran about the attack and asserted that Iran had no plans to enter the war.
Hamas had already denied the report on Thursday.
Reuters had attributed statements to three officials from Iran, Hamas, and informed sources on Wednesday, claiming that Khamenei had informed Haniyeh that Iran would not enter the war on behalf of Hamas since it was not informed about the Oct. 7 attack.
The sources also quoted Khamenei stating that Iran, a long-time supporter of Hamas, would continue providing political and moral support without direct intervention.
A Hamas official told Reuters that Khamenei urged Haniyeh to silence voices calling for Iran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, to join the battle against Israel with full force.
Nevertheless, Iran will do “whatever it takes” to help Hamas in its war with Israel, Iran’s Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said in a message to top Hamas commander Mohammed Deif, state media reported on Thursday.
“We stand by our fraternal pledge that unites us and we assure you that we will do whatever it takes in this historic battle,” Qaani added in the letter, shared by Iranian state news agency IRNA.
