Blinken Claims No Evidence Iran Was Behind Hamas Attack
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday that the Biden administration does not have any evidence of Iran’s involvement in the terrorist attacks on Israel.
"In this specific instance, we have not yet seen evidence that Iran directed or was behind this particular attack, but there’s certainly a long relationship." The statement came in response to the ongoing attacks launched by Hamas fighters on Israel's southern region, resulting in the death of hundreds and the capture of civilians and soldiers.
Blinken's statement contradicts years of evidence which has proven that Iran pays Hamas around $100m annually, as was announced in 2018 by the then Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, under the Donald Trump administration.
In spite of evidence to suggest the Saturday morning attack which began with a barrage of thousands of rockets fired into Israel's southern region, followed by a land, sea and air invasion of troops, was carefully planned, Blinken tried to suggest the attacks could have been a way to destabilize US-brokered discussions of normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia which have only in recent weeks gained momentum.
Blinken instead said that rather than Iran being behind the assault in which Hamas declared war on Israel, it could instead have been Hamas and Hezbollah, which are both Iran-backed proxies. In the nonsensical explanation, he said, "Look, who opposes normalization? Hamas, Hizballah, Iran. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise that part of the motivation may have been to disrupt efforts to bring Saudi Arabia and Israel together".
Many politicians and ordinary Americans have raised concerns about whether the recent $6bn of released Iranian funds in exchange for five dual nationals, could have helped fund the attacks which have been raging since Saturday at dawn. "No US taxpayer dollars were involved. These [$6bn] were Iranian resources that Iran had accumulated from the sale of its oil that were stuck in a bank in South Korea.”
He alleged that not a single cent had been spent from that account, with strict limitations on its use for medical supplies and food.
As the conflict continues to impact Israeli civilians, Secretary Blinken said the onslaught "should be something that revolts the entire world."
