TEHRAN- On October 7, 2023, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas managed to infiltrate the occupied territories from the Gaza Strip in a calculated and surprising move, inflicting heavy casualties on Israel while the regime’s security and intelligence forces seemed to have fallen asleep at the wheel.

 
The fact that a group of fighters living in a cloistered and deprived area were able to fully plan and execute the offensive against a heavily armed military that labels itself as the fourth most powerful army in the world, and the mightiest in the region, makes the attack unprecedented in its kind. The arrogance of the Israeli military vanished as Hamas fighters were able to expose the regime’s true colors. 

While the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei credited Hamas for planning and executing the offensive and ruled out Iran’s direct involvement in the attack, various politicians in Israel and the West have been trying to point the finger of blame at Iran in a bid to cover up Israel’s major defeat from Palestinians. Western powers try to reduce Hamas and other resistance groups in the region to mere proxies of Iran that would only take action upon receiving orders from Tehran. 

The same statement was reiterated by Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah, in his first speech after the successful Al-Aqsa Storm operation, emphasizing the Palestinian nature of all aspects of the operation, from design to execution. 

It is needless to say both the Leader of the Islamic Revolution and the Secretary-General of Hezbollah have never denied their support for the Palestinian resistance throughout the years and have always been proactive in helping them in all fields. However, they consider this particular incident as solely Palestinian. Nasrallah even clarified that he, like everyone else in the world, was informed about the October 7 offensive the day it happened. 

Nevertheless, it seems to be extremely difficult for the West to admit that Israel has been defeated by a small group in the impoverished Gaza Strip, rather than a powerful and influential rival like Iran. The Western media has been trying to highlight Iran’s role by promoting narratives they have no evidence for. They pour all their efforts into justifying Israel’s colossal and humiliating defeat by trying to tell their audience that Iran had a vested interest in carrying out the October 7 attack!

For instance, on November 2, 2023, Alex Vatanka wrote an article in the Foreign Policy magazine titled "Iran Can’t Afford a Regional War" in which the writer said: “As the Israel-Hamas war rages on, Iran’s role will continue to be a pivotal question. While Tehran no doubt feels vindicated in its model of armed campaign against Israel, it will likely not seek escalation by confronting Israel and the United States militarily. Instead, Iranian officials seem to consider the war as a moment to elevate Tehran’s image in the Islamic world—and in the global south generally”.

The author adds that the Islamic Republic “took a major hit” in the Islamic world in the past decade by supporting the government of Bashar al-Assad (Iran spearheaded the fight against Daesh terror forces in Syria and Iraq in the 2010s). He called the armed rebels in Syria who later got drafted into Daesh part of a “popular uprising” that enjoyed the support of Arab world, adding that Iran who is mostly responsible for the vanquishment of these terrorists now wants to restore its position among Muslims by supporting the Palestinian cause. 
In response to the false claims made by the Foreign Policy, it is necessary to mention a few points:

1- Palestine is under occupation, and Palestinians have the natural right to resist the occupier at any time and place; they do not need to be incited by the Islamic Republic.

2- Iran has never regretted its support for the Syrian government and its sovereignty. Iran has openly supported Syria and continues to do so to this day. 

3- Those who took up arms against Bashar al-Assad were not ordinary Syrian people, but terrorist groups like Daesh which, as confessed by Hilary Clinton, were first founded by the United States. The aim was to exploit popular demand in order to bring the destruction of Syria. 

4- The Islamic Republic's support for the Palestinian cause is not something that started on October 7th for political purposes. Iran has been supporting Palestine for 44 years and has paid a high price for it. Therefore, the claim of Iran benefiting from the Al-Aqsa Storm is either rooted in ignorance or hostility! 

Furthermore, the media outlet makes another ridiculous claim and writes: “The reason why Iran is far less certain to act kinetically is not only to do with its military preparedness to confront Israel and the United States. It is also because the concept of the Axis of Resistance is resented by the Iranian public”.
The author has, in fact, made a pathetic attempt to make readers think that the Islamic Republic’s armed forces are weak and that their ardent support for the Palestinian cause within the framework of the Axis of Resistance does not enjoy popular support.  

This is while Iran’s military power is in its best shape in the country’s modern history. As many analysts have pointed out in the U.S., Iran can lay waste to Israeli and American targets in the shortest time possible and massively change the dynamics of the region.  

Additionally, more than 6 million Iranians have declared their readiness to fight against Israel in an online campaign, which indicates the exceptional readiness of a nation under its own sovereignty to fight an illegitimate entity. Iran does not fundamentally see Israel as a threat to itself, but it stands by Palestine and will not leave this nation alone; if Tehran has a role anywhere, it will take responsibility for it and will not be afraid to express it. However, the important operation of the Al-Aqsa Storm, from planning to execution, is the result of the efforts of the Palestinian fighters, and the West, whether it likes it or not, should eventually come to terms with Israel’s defeat and accept that their beloved ally, which has been creating a fake image for itself through massive propaganda, has lost to a small group of Palestinians who managed to crush the Israeli regime’s patina of invincibility despite years of sanctions and brutal siege.