Fact-checking | Russian Foreign Minister's Claim: The Islamic Republic is a 'Responsible Peacekeeper' in the Region

On October 19, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, stated that Iran has a responsible policy in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East, aiming to maintain peace and stability. He said at a press conference: "Regarding Gaza, there is a serious risk of this crisis turning into a regional conflict... Iranian officials have taken a responsible and balanced position and called for preventing the escalation of conflict in the region and neighboring countries..." However, the Poligraph website, a fact-checking project of Voice of America, claims this assertion is incorrect. Iran's extensive support for Hamas is a primary factor of instability in the region. The Iranian regime celebrated Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, which was met with an Israeli response and led to a humanitarian crisis that the United Nations has stated could have "disastrous consequences" for the region. Some reports indicate that Iran assisted in planning this attack for Hamas, but the United States believes it has found no evidence of direct Iranian involvement in this attack. On October 13, Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, met with Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, in Qatar, and according to Reuters, they "agreed on continuing cooperation" to achieve Hamas's goals. Amir-Abdollahian referred to the attack on Israel as a "historic victory" during this meeting. On October 16, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a television interview: "... Hamas would not be Hamas without the support it has received from Iran over the years. We have not yet seen direct evidence that shows Iran was behind this specific attack or involved in it, but their support [for Hamas] over the years is clear." Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, also said that U.S. intelligence has found no evidence linking the October 7 attack directly to Iran. Nevertheless, Iranian legislative, executive, and military officials celebrated October 7, the day of Hamas's attack on Israel. Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, stated: "This operation was a new chapter in the field of resistance and armed action against the occupiers in the occupied territories." On the same day, the Islamic Consultative Assembly supported the "Storm of Al-Aqsa" operation, and Rahim Safavi, an advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, announced: "We declare our support for the Storm of Al-Aqsa operation and are confident that the resistance front will also support it." Ali Bahadori Jahromi, the spokesperson for the Iranian government, also described Hamas's attack on Israel as a "powerful response from Palestinian youth to the military actions of the Zionist regime." In 2012, Ezzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas's political bureau, stated that the Tehran government is the main supporter of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip. In 2014, Israeli commandos intercepted a Panama-flagged ship carrying various weapons in the Red Sea. They announced that this shipment was sent to terrorist groups in Gaza. In June 2014, UN experts confirmed the Iranian origin of this shipment. In the same year, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian official, stated: "The weapons of Palestinian resistance are the blessings of technology transfer from Iran." In 2021, the Daily Telegraph reported that Hamas officials received about $22 million in aid from Tehran during a 2006 visit to Iran and claimed that Qassem Soleimani, the then-commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, "agreed to spend even more than that." A representative of Hamas in Lebanon stated: "Iran is the only country that supports the resistance with money and weapons." In the same year, Ismail Haniyeh described the Islamic Republic's aid as the "pillar" of Hamas's "project" for Palestinian resistance. The goal of Hamas is the destruction of Israel and the establishment of an Islamic government. The United States, Israel, Egypt, the European Union, Japan, and several other countries consider Hamas a terrorist organization. This article was prepared and organized using the report from Poligraph, the fact-checking project of Voice of America.