Iran's Foreign Minister Says Hamas Attack 'Purely Palestinian Operation'

The FATF (The Financial Action Task Force) is a G-7 initiative to combat money laundering and financing terrorism. The four bills stuck in Iran's legislative system since 2017 due to opposition by hardliners include measures to join the convention against organized crime, to amend “the anti-money laundering law,” to accept the convention against financial support for terrorism” and a “bill to amend the law against financial support for terrorism.” 

The former head of the Iranian parliament's national Security and Foreign Relations Committee Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh also told Etemad Online that "if it is true that Raisi has now asked Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to order the Expediency Council to start another review of the FATF bills, then we should be sorry for the country's national interests as Raisi was one of the opponents of the bills."

The bills were handed over to the Expediency Council, a group of former officials trusted by Khamenei, for review after it changed hands between the parliament (Majles) and the constitutional watchdog the Guardian Council without any progress. 

In addition to the limitations imposed on Iran's international trade and banking due to US and other international sanctions, adherence to the FATF conventions is essential for international traders. It provides assurance that the funds used by Iran in transactions will not be funneled into money laundering, cross-border organized crime, or terrorism financing.

Hardliners, however, have been strictly opposing the bills saying openly that joining the conventions would bar Iran from sending money to groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah, designated as terrorist groups by key countries.

Falahatpisheh charged that hardliners have been benefitting from illicit trade and financial transaction while Iran has been on the FATF blacklist. He added that Raisi strongly opposed the bills as an Expediency Council member and the head of Iran's Judiciary. He said that Raisi as President has now realized that joining the FATF and returning to the nuclear deal with the West are necessary to improve Iran's ailing economy. 

Meanwhile, Expediency Council member Mohammad Sadr also acknowledged in an interview on Wednesday that "many of the opponents of the JCPOA and FATF have realized the significance and necessity of the nuclear agreement and the anti-money laundering conventions. 

Sadr emphasized that without the FATF, Iran's existing economic challenges will remain unsolved, and the system is susceptible to encountering new issues.

Some politicians and many commentators and economists have been insisting that passing the bills are essential for conducting financial transactions with the world. Many had also pointed out that even if the sanctions are lifted, Iran will not be able to conduct international trade and banking without accepting the terms of the FATF. 

Iran's radicals and hardliners are being blamed for the impasse in the country's economy, politics and foreign policy while almost everyone knows that all the decisions originate with Khamenei and dictated to the system. However, former Reformist politician Jalil Rahimi Jahanabadi has called for a powerful reformist minority at the Majles to counterbalance hardliners. 

He said: "We need to harness and control the radicals. A powerful reformist minority can have a good impact on the Majles." It is interesting that the reformist figure is happy only if a minority comes from the reform camp rather than demanding to win the majority in parliament. 

Raisi had called for debating the FATF and JCPOA before leaving for New York to take part in the UN General Assembly in September, however, the issue popped up again after the brutal Hamas attack on Israel last week. Iran finds itself in the crosshairs of international criticism for being the main supporter of Hamas. Khamenei was forced to say publicly that the regime played no direct role in the attack.

Hassan Rouhani, the former Iranian president, has issued a statement condemning Israel for declaring an all-out war against Hamas in Gaza where the militant Hamas group has its base.

Rouhani said that the current situation highlights the “suffering” endured by the “people of Palestine” inflicted by Israel’s “Zionist Regime for the past 75 years.”

The state of Israel was established in 1948 and recognized by the United States at the same time.

“Censorship of the truth, one sided accounts of events, and political and media repression,” Rouhani mentioned as examples of what the Palestinian people have had to deal with.

The former President's remark contrast with the behavior of the Iranian regime that has denied basic freedoms to Iranians for 44 years. It has killed thousands of protesters in recent years and jailed tens of thousands of people, in addition to thousands who have been hanged.

Meanwhile, a representative of Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei in the southwest province of Khuzestan has also issued remarks praising Hamas’s attacks on Israel.

Abdolnabi Mousavi-Fard claimed that any scene of Hamas fighters using violence against Israeli civilians is fabricated. “My regret is that some people think Israelis are innocent,” he added.

The Islamic Republic is the main supporter of Palestinian militant group such as Hamas, leading to speculation about Iran’s direct involvement in the October 7 attack.

In a news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani was asked if his government had agreed with the United states to freeze the funds that were released from South Korea in September, after the bloody attack by Hamas against Israel.

The Prime Minister in a somewhat vague answer in Arabic said, "Regarding the media reports about freezing Iranian funds in Qatar, the state of Qatar is always committed to any agreement, and every step must be done through consultations with other partners that fund – the money here in Qatar, is there. And Qatar will focus at the priorities of – need not do anything that will escalate the situation in the region."

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo had told House Democrats that the Biden administration and Qatar's government had reached a deal to re-freeze the funds in the light of events in the Middle East. Adeyemo reportedly said that after the October 7 bloody Hamas attack on Israel and the death of more than 1,000 civilians, the US and Qatar reached the deal to deny Iran the use of the funds for buying non-sanctionable goods.

CBS News called it a "quiet understanding", not a formal agreement

Iranian state news agency IRNA, however, reported on Friday that Qatar's Central Bank Governor Bandar bin Mohamed bin Saud Al Thani had denied the reports in a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad-Reza Farzin on the sidelines of the International monetary Fund summit in Morocco.

"The rumors about the refreezing of Iran's funds in Qatari banks were of no real value, and were more like a joke and media game," the Qatari official said, according to IRNA, which is the government's official news website.

He added that “Qatar is fully committed to all its obligations with Iran, and there is no obstacle to bolstering banking relations between the two countries.”

The Biden administration reached a hostage release deal in August to allow South Korea to unblock $6 billion of accrued Iranian oil income and transfer the money to Qatar in exchange for the release of five Americans held by Iran. The deal led to sharp criticism by Republicans, some Democrats and Iranian American activists, who labeled the released funds as “the biggest ransom payout in history”, which would embolden the Iranian regime and encourage hostage taking around the world.

 A bipartisan bill has been introduced in the US Senate to stop the use of the funds by Iran. More than 100 House Republicans backed a bill to refreeze the $6 billion, lawmakers announced on Thursday.

“A month ago… the Biden Administration unfroze $6 billion and made it available to Iran,” said Congressman August Pfluger who introduced a bill to block Iran’s access to the fund. “This $6 billion will be used to backfill the money that Iran is paying to Hamas if we don’t act. Since the Administration refuses to permanently freeze the funds, Congress will.”

Republican Senator Joni Ernst on Friday told Fox News that "President Biden must immediately freeze the $6B that emboldened more of Iran’s proxy terrorism. End the appeasement."

Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and the head of militant Lebanese group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, met in Beirut to discuss the war that started last week after Hamas attacked Israel killing more than a thousand civilians and taking more than a hundred people hostage.

The foreign minister is on a tour of the region to meet with powerful militant groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to mobilize support against long-time foe Israel.

Speaking to journalists after meeting with his Lebanese counterparts, Amir-Abdollahian said actions taken by Hamas over the weekend were in response to policies of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, an avid critic of the ruling clerical regime in Iran.

“If these organized war crimes that are committed by the Zionist entity don’t stop immediately, then we can imagine any possibility,” said Amir-Abdollahian.

The statement comes after both Iran’s ruler, Ali Khamenei, and President Ebrahim Raisi extended congratulatory remarks praising Hamas for its “courage and bravery” after their air land and sea attack on Israel.

Iran is a supporter of Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, though it has denied involvement in the recent attacks on Israel. The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal have quoted sources who have said that Iran is complicit in the Hamas attacks.

The visit comes amid growing international concerns that the war could spread to Lebanon’s border and the wider Middle East given high animosity and tensions in the region.

Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Thursday that the continuation of Hamas-Israel war will prompt a response from "the rest of the axis of resistance." The ‘resistance' front or axis is the term coined by the Islamic Republic to describe its logistic, financial and intelligence support for the Syrian regime, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and dozens of militia groups in the region, several of which were created by Iran.

"This is just the beginning,” Iranian lawmaker Kamal Alipour told Didban Iran website, adding that “if the Supreme Leader orders, we will also have military support for Hamas." Referring to the Iraq-Iran war in the 1980s, he said that “Iran stood against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein for eight years, therefore war against Israel is nothing in comparison to that.”

Alipour added, "Iran has provided consultation and military training to Hamas forces. Basically, the philosophical underpinning of our Islamic Revolution is to assist the oppressed and downtrodden people of Palestine."

His remarks were echoed by another lawmaker, Shahriar Heydari, who emphasized that Iran has backed Hamas through military training and advisory support, claiming that due to the blockade of Gaza, “sending weapons from Iran is not possible but if such an opportunity were available, we would provide our utmost support... In terms of military training, we have been and will remain a source of assistance."

"We have trained the resistance forces and Hamas to use missile technology, but these technologies belong to the Palestinians and the fighters themselves," he claimed.

While the Islamic Republic is cheering about the war in Israel, Iranians’ reactions to the regime’s propaganda indicate a complex societal schism. Countless posts sympathetic to Israelis who have suffered the biggest loss of life in one day since the holocaust are promoting hashtags such as “Iranians Stand With Israel.”

Numerous social media posts are encouraging people loyal to the regime to travel to Israel and support Hamas in the battlefield, suggesting that this might be the most direct path to becoming revered "martyrs" in their revolutionary ideology.

Regime-sponsored rallies were also held on Friday across Iran in solidarity with the Hamas attack, praising the “miraculous and wonderful operation” that made “terror and fear engulf” Israel.

The Iranian foreign minister, in Beirut on a tour of Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, was received at the airport by top officials of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah. "Some Western officials have questioned if there is an intention to open a new front against the Zionist entity. Of course, in light of the continuation of these circumstances that are war crimes,” he said, referring to the displacement of Palestinians and cutting water and electricity to the Gaza Strip.

Western governments and media are questioning Iran’s role in the Hamas attack and its long-standing financial and military support for militant groups in the region. The Iranian foreign minister’s remarks push Tehran further to the forefront of the conflict.

Israel has been pounding Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas rampage in Israel this week that has killed well over 1,000 civilians, the deadliest attack on civilians in Israeli history. More than 1,500 Palestinians have been killed.