Tehran confirms supplying military aid to Hamas

Iran has supplied military aid to the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza locked in a conflict with Israel during which it has fired missiles at Tel Aviv for the first time, the parliament speaker said on Wednesday.

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Israeli soldiers take cover during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip in Yad Mordechay, southern Israel. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:16pm, 21 Nov 2012

Iran has supplied military aid to the Islamist group Hamas in Gaza locked in a conflict with Israel during which it has fired missiles at Tel Aviv for the first time, the parliament speaker said on Wednesday.

“We are proud to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas ... and that our assistance to them has been both financial and military,” Ali Larijani said without elaborating, in remarks reported by parliament’s website, www.icana.ir.

Iran has never made a secret of its support for Israel’s foes Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip but generally eschews mention of sending military aid.

The Jewish state has accused Iran of supplying Hamas with its Fajr 5 missile, used to target Tel Aviv since an Israeli offensive on Gaza was launched on November 14.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Wednesday that Tehran was only responsible for having shared the missile’s “technology.”

Jafari said: “Iran provides technical assistance to all Muslims who fight against world arrogance,” a term used by Iranian officials to describe the West and Israel, the ISNA news agency reported.

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