Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with commanders and a group of members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday celebrated the Hamas terrorist assault on Israel that has killed more than 900 people while denying Iranian involvement.

“We kiss the foreheads and arms of the resourceful and intelligent designers [of the operation] and the Palestinian youth, but those who say that the recent great event is the work of non-Palestinians are making miscalculations,” Khamenei said at a graduation ceremony for Iranian military cadets. “I say that this devastating earthquake has managed to destroy some of the main structures of the occupying regime’s rule, which cannot be rebuilt so easily.”

Khamenei went on to say that Israel itself was to blame.

“Just because the Palestinian Mujahideen (resistance fighters) managed to get out of the siege of Gaza and reach the military and civilian centers of the Zionists, should [the regime] be called innocent?” he asked. “Whatever the occupying regime is, it is not innocent. It is cruel, aggressive, ignorant, and talking gibberish, but not innocent. No one can turn this hideous monster into an innocent face.”

Despite repeated denials from Iranian regime officials that they assisted Hamas, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that Iran and its Lebanese terrorist proxy Hezbollah helped Hamas plan and gave approval for Saturday’s attack. According to representatives from those groups, leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, which is responsible for Iran’s overseas operations, have held biweekly meetings with Hamas since August to discuss the attack.

The Washington Post on Monday reported that planning for the attack began more than a year ago, and cited current and former officials who said that while Iran’s precise role remained unclear, Hamas benefited from Iran’s money, training, and weaponry in carrying out the assault.

The Biden administration has not said that Iran is responsible for Hamas’ terrorist attack, but White House deputy national security adviser Jonathan Finer in an interview Monday said they were “complicit.”

“What I can say without a doubt is that Iran is broadly complicit in these attacks,” Finer said. “Iran has been Hamas’ primary backer for decades. They have provided them weapons. They have provided them training. They have provided them financial support. And so, in terms of broad complicity, we are very clear about a role for Iran.”