The United States has intelligence indicating that senior Iranian officials were caught by surprise Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israelaccording to several US officials familiar with the matter, tentatively suggesting that Tehran was not directly involved in staging the deadly October 7 attack.
While analysis and information gathering continue and additional information may emerge that contradicts initial assessments, officials familiar with the intelligence say that key Iranian officials who are usually aware of operations in the region appear to have been unaware of the attacks.
Officials declined to provide details on the identities of the Iranian officials or the nature of the intelligence collected. US lawmakers were briefed confidentially by multiple agencies on the situation in Israel and potential Iranian involvement on Wednesday morning. Morgan Moyer, a senior US intelligence official, also briefed a smaller group on Tuesday. the The New York Times It was first reported that the United States had intelligence that the Hamas attack caught senior Iranian officials by surprise.
Administration officials have said since the attacks began that Iran has long supported Hamas with material, financial and logistical support, but so far no evidence has been discovered linking the attacks, which killed more than 1,200 Israelis and wounded thousands more, to Tehran.
“[W]We’ve said from the beginning that Iran was complicit in this attack in a broad sense because it provided the lion’s share of funding to the military wing of Hamas, provided training, provided capabilities, provided support. “They had dealings and communications with Hamas on and off,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday. For years and years.”
He added: “We will consider additional intelligence in the coming weeks and days to inform our thinking on this issue, including whether there are at least some in the Iranian regime who have a clear sense of what is coming or even contributed to aspects of the matter.” “Planning,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to Israel on Wednesday to hold meetings with senior Israeli officials and to show solidarity and support.
The ministry confirmed on Wednesday that the number of American citizens killed in Israel had risen It rose to 22The whereabouts of 17 citizens are still unknown. The officials said some of these individuals may have been held hostage by Hamas.
