The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's (IRGC) foreign operations official made contradictory statements about Tehran's connection with regional factions.
Al-Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said the resistance groups across the Middle East each have their independent arrangements, saying the Iraqi resistance will launch operations against the US if it continues its activities in Iraq.
Qaani said at a commemoration of Hossein Pourjafari, Qassem Soleimani's close associate, that "resistance" groups across the Middle East each have independent and individual structures.
"Palestinian resistance began its work with its preparation and the plan it had set," Qaani said.
Last week, the IRGC retracted a statement from its spokesman claiming the al-Aqsa Flood operation in the Gaza Strip was a retaliatory act for the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the al-Quds Force.
Hamas swiftly rejected the spokesperson's statements, emphasizing that all of its actions are "in response to the presence of the occupation and its continued aggression against our people and our sanctities."
Subsequently, the Revolutionary Guard's media outlets distributed a brief statement indicating a partial revision of the spokesperson's statements, asserting the al-Aqsa Flood was an "entirely Palestinian operation."
The alteration was attributed to a "misunderstanding" of the spokesperson's earlier statements.
- Mousavi's mission in Syria
Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that the assassination of Reza Mousavi would not diminish Iran's goals to ensure the maximum amount of regional security.
Tasnim Agency, affiliated with the IRGC, reported that Amirabdollahian said he was in contact with Mousavi during his visits to Syria.
Amirabdollahian pointed out that the assassination of Mousavi was evidence of Israel's failure during the past eighty days at the hands of the resistance in Gaza.
Earlier, IRGC commander Hussein Salami pledged to "eliminate" Israel in retaliation for the assassination of Mousavi and said, "Palestinian fighters will wipe out the geographical and political name of this evil and fake regime," according to what Reuters reported last Thursday.
Last Monday, the IRGC adviser was killed in an Israeli air strike in Syria in the Sayyida Zeinab area near Damascus, which heightened fears of additional regional escalation amid the war in the Gaza Strip.
It was reported that Mousavi helped monitor the delivery of missiles and other weapons to numerous Iranian-backed militias in the region since the beginning of the battles in the Gaza Strip, according to a New York Times report.
Since the killing of Qassem Soleimani in a US raid in Baghdad in 2020, Iranian officials issued statements threatening "response and revenge," but Tehran appears to be adhering to the rules of engagement.
Observers believe that the Iranian authorities' execution of four "saboteurs" linked to the Israeli Mossad intelligence service falls within the reaction to the killing of the supplies official.
Mizan News Agency, affiliated with the Iranian judiciary, reported that "four members of a sabotage team associated with the Zionist regime ... were executed this morning following legal procedures," accusing them of "extensive" actions, guided by Mossad officers, targeting Iran's security.
