A woman holds a portrait of slain Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani during a funeral procession carrying the remains of 110 Iranian soldiers recovered from former battlefields of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), in Tehran, Iran, on December 17, 2023. (AFP)
Dec 27,
2023. Posted by Balkan
Periscope - Hellas
The
spokesman for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday
that Hamas’ October 7 attacks against Israel were in retaliation for the
killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, a claim that was quickly
denied by the Palestinian group.
“The Al-Aqsa Flood was one of the acts of revenge for the assassination of General Soleimani by the US and the Zionists,” Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted IRGC spokesman Ramezan Sharif as telling reporters, using the name Hamas has dubbed its October 7 attacks on Israel.
“Certainly,
these acts of revenge will continue in different times and places,” Sharif
said.
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Hamas
swiftly denied Sharif’s comments, saying all of its actions are “in response to
the presence of the occupation and its continued aggression against our people
and our sanctities.”
Sharif’s
comments came ahead of the fourth anniversary of Soleimani’s death. He was
killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in January 2020.
Soleimani,
who for over two decades headed the Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of
the IRGC, was widely regarded as the most powerful figure in the Islamic
Republic after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Tehran has consistently pledged to
avenge his death.
Israel has
vowed to destroy Hamas, which governs Gaza, in retaliation for its October 7
attacks. Israeli officials say the attacks killed about 1,200 people, mostly
civilians, and around 240 people were taken hostage.
Israel’s
air and ground campaign has killed more than 20,000 people in Gaza, according
to health authorities in the Palestinian territory.
Iran, a key
source of financial and military support for Hamas, praised the October 7
attacks while denying any involvement in its planning or execution.
Al Arabiya
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