Iran’s permanent delegation to the UN on Saturday rejected allegations linking Tehran to the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, according to the IRNA news agency.

In a statement, the Iranian delegation responded to questions from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal about Israel’s claim that it had obtained minutes of secret Hamas meetings that suggested Tehran had been briefed on the planned attack.

Pointing out that “Hamas officials in Doha have announced that they did not have any information about the operation and only the military arm of Hamas based in Gaza was responsible for the planning, decision and direction of the operation”, the Iranian diplomatic mission underlines that “any claim purporting to partially or fully link the operation to Iran or Hezbollah is invalid and comes from falsified documents.”

The New York Times reported on Saturday that secret Hamas meeting minutes seized by the Israeli military and obtained by the US newspaper detailed the planning of the October 7, 2023 attack, demonstrating the determination of Yahya Shinuar – the current leader of the Hamas politburo – to persuade the Palestinian movement’s allies, Iran and Hezbollah, to join the operation or at least commit to a wider conflict with Israel if Hamas launched a surprise cross-border attack.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages. In retaliation, the Israeli Armed Forces (IDF) have since been conducting large-scale operations in the Gaza Strip.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that while Tehran supports the Palestinian resistance, including Hamas, it had no prior knowledge of the attack on Israel and was not involved in its execution.