Emboldened Iran Counts Victories As Anti-Israel Investments Pay Off Radio Free Europe by By Michael Scollon 10/10/2023
Iran insists it had no direct involvement in Hamas's surprise assault on Israel this week, but that is not keeping it from celebrating what it sees as a multitude of victories.
In the wake of the multipronged attack on October 7 by the Iran-backed Palestinian militant group in the Gaza Strip, Tehran was basking in the moment.
Within hours of the attack that left at least 900 Israelis dead, billboards erected in the Iranian capital heralded the beginning of "the great liberation" of the Palestinian territories and the demise of Iran's archenemy Israel.
The results of Hamas's attack, the deadliest in Israel's history, have altered the diplomatic and military landscape in the region.
That has benefitted Iran, a Shi'a-majority country that seeks to cement itself as a major power in the Middle East and characterizes itself as the leading supporter of the Palestinian cause in the Muslim world.
Tehran has publicly acknowledged providing financial and moral support to Hamas, a Sunni group that controls the Gaza Strip. Iran also backs proxies such as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a Sunni militant group in Gaza, as well as the Shi'ite militant group Hizballah in Lebanon.
The Islamic republic, experts say, is now seeing a high return on its investment against Israel.
"It's about co-opting forces that are willing to shoot at the people that you would like to shoot at, and that essentially explains the Iranian material support to Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad," Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank, told RFE/RL.
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