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Iran’s Quds Force Chief Praises Hamas’s Oct. 7 Attack, Vows Continued Support for ‘Resistance Front’
Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, Esmail Qaani speaks in Tehran, Dec. 20, 2022. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
The head of Iran’s elite military force responsible for overseeing Iranian proxies and terrorist operations abroad praised the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel in new remarks, reaffirming Tehran’s “unwavering support for the resistance front” in a speech marking “Quds Day.”
Iranian Brigadier General Esmail Qaani, who leads the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an internationally designated terrorist organization, on Wednesday commended the Oct. 7 onslaught as “a combination of battlefield and popular resistance,” Iranian state media reported.
During his speech, the Quds Force commander said Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel, in which Palestinian terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages while perpetrating mass atrocities including rape, “introduced a new phenomenon of unity among resistance fronts,” demonstrating the “strength and solidarity of resistance forces.”
Qaani also reiterated Iran’s “unwavering support for the resistance front,” stressing that it will “continue until the ultimate goal of liberating Al-Quds [the Arabic name for Jerusalem] is achieved.”
On Wednesday, leaders from the so-called “Axis of Resistance” — an Iran-led network of anti-Israel, anti-West militias across the Middle East — delivered pre-recorded speeches in preparation for Quds Day on Friday, broadcast alongside images of three figures killed in the past year: former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh and former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Sponsored by the Iranian regime, the annual Quds Day commemorations event is held in Tehran and several other cities, where Iran and its allies organize marches in support of the Palestinians and call for Israel’s annihilation.
In his remarks, Qaani emphasized that Iran remains committed to supporting the “Palestinian cause” through both direct backing for “resistance forces” and military operations such as “The True Promise” — the regime’s name for its ballistic-missile attack against Israel in October last year.
Iran is the chief international backer of Hamas, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training. According to media reports based on documents seized by the Israeli military in Gaza last year, Iran had been informed about Hamas’s plan to launch the Oct. 7 attack months in advance.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya also delivered a speech praising “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood,” the terrorist group’s name for the Oct. 7 massacre, as an “unprecedented phase in the history of Palestine,” saying it “reshaped the fight for Palestinian liberation.”
During his speech, the terrorist group leader asserted that the attack demonstrated their ability to take the initiative and launch attacks, “exposing the Zionist entity’s security and military failures.”
“Despite months of relentless killing, terrorism, and destruction, backed by Washington’s full support, the occupation has failed to break the will of the Palestinian people,” al-Hayya said. “The ongoing struggle has forged a new regional power dynamic, uniting fighters from Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran in a common front against the occupation.”
In another pre-recorded speech, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem accused the United States of attempting to “dismantle the Palestinian cause” through Israel.
The leader of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon, said Israel has “occupied Palestine for over 75 years” but failed to erase the “Palestinian identity.”
“Operation Al-Aqsa Flood was carried out to change the equation,” Qassem said. “The light of the Palestinian cause shines as a beacon of truth in the world, not to be extinguished.”
“The Zionist regime is grappling with an existential crisis and cannot secure its presence through occupation,” he continued.
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi also delivered a speech saying that Israel’s “continued aggression, supported by the United States, is aimed at dismantling the Palestinian cause.”
“The Israeli enemy’s actions, mass killings, destruction of infrastructure, starvation, and thirst clearly reveal their attempt to forcibly displace the Palestinian people,” al-Houthi said.
He called on Arab nations to take a “bold, historic stand” to prevent the “displacement of the Palestinians and resist normalization with Israel.”
“If the Israeli enemy succeeds in displacing the Palestinian people, the next target will be Palestine’s neighboring countries and the wider Arab world,” the Iran-backed terrorist group leader said.
“Despite the US attacks, Yemen will not back down and will continue its operations in support of the Palestinian people.”
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
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