Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accuses Israel of committing ‘crimes’ in Gaza Strip
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday called on countries to block the flow of food and oil to Israel over military action against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Khamenei’s comments to the students in Tehran came after he praised the Palestinian terror group for launching an attack on October 7 in southern Israel.
“Islamic governments must insist on an immediate end to the crimes committed by [Israelis] in Gaza. The bombings must stop immediately,” Khamenei was quoted as saying by state media, The Associated Press said. “They must block the flow of oil and food to the Zionist regime. Islamic governments must not have economic cooperation with the Zionist regime.”
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Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian called on Iran’s Arab-majority neighbors to impose an oil embargo on Israel by mid-October and for countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to expel all Israeli ambassadors.
However, Reuters reported at the time that OPEC, the Organization of the Middle East’s foreign oil producers, had no plans to impose such sanctions.
“We are not a political organization,” an OPEC source told Reuters.
Days after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel, Khamenei said in a televised speech, “We will kiss the hands of those who planned the attack.”
According to Reuters, Khamenei added that further retaliatory attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip would “unleash very serious anger.”
Iran reportedly helped Hamas attack Israel, according to senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Iranian security officials approved Hamas’ plan to attack Israel at a recent meeting in Beirut in early October. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has worked with Hamas since August on air, land, and sea attack plans, Hamas and Hezbollah leaders said.