Iranian state media confirms Khamenei meeting with Hamas leader Haniya in Tehran

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with the leader of the Tehran-backed Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in Tehran, Iranian state media reported today, a day after a Hamas official said the two they met recently.

As reported by Iran’s state media, Haniya, who has been living between Qatar and Turkey since 2019, “informed Khamenei about the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and the crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza as well as the developments in the West Bank”.

The Islamic Republic says it supports Hamas but had no role in the group’s surprise attack on Israel last month.

Without detailing when the meeting took place, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that Khamenei “stressed Tehran’s steadfast policy of supporting the Palestinian resistance forces against the Zionist occupiers.”

Iran’s theocratic regime has warned Israel, which it refuses to acknowledge, of “severe consequences” if attacks on the Gaza Strip continue.