Oct 7 was ‘managed and planned’ by Iran’s Quds Force, expert claims

Hamas’ invasion and massacre in southern Israel last October was managed and planned by the current and former commanders of Iran’s Quds Force, according to U.S.-based Iran expert, Dr. Hassan Hashemian.

In an interview with the Saudi news channel al-Hadath on Wednesday, Hashemian said, “I believe that everything that happened on October 7 was managed and planned during the era of Qasem Soleimani.”

Soleimani was the former commander of the Quds Force, the secretive foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) until he was killed by the United States in 2020.

His successor, Esmail Qaani, has been coordinating the attacks on Israel by Hamas, Iran's terror proxy in Gaza.

Hashemian continued: “The issue of the tunnels and the funds invested in their construction, all the weapons accumulated by Hamas, and even the planning of the operation itself, were all conducted during Soleimani’s tenure. But the implementation itself was carried out by Esmail Qaani, Soleimani’s successor."

“Qaani wanted to prove himself,” he added, “because it is known that Soleimani is a different figure from him. Within Hamas, within the Quds Force, and even in the government offices in Tehran, and among many agents abroad, it is believed that he does not measure up to the stature of Qasem Soleimani.”

Hashemian stressed that Iran’s official statements declaring it the regime was not involved in the Oct. 7 attack should not be trusted.

“In Iran, they say they support Hamas and stand by it and the Palestinians, but that support is not planning. Officially, Iran denied that it knew that Hamas intended to launch an attack. But does anyone think that someone can make such a decision without the IRGC, certainly Qaani himself, being aware of the matter?” has said.

While Palestinian terrorists were still committing atrocities against Israeli communities on Oct. 7, the Iranian regime released a statement praising Hamas and pledging its support.

Over the next months, numerous reports of Iran's direct support for Hamas began to surface.

Officers of the IRGC helped Hamas to plan its assault over several months, the Wall Street Journal quoted senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah as saying.

According to the report, the IRGC repeatedly met with Hamas and other Iranian-supported proxy terror groups, including Hezbollah, before giving the go-ahead several days before.

Another report by the WSJ said that about 500 terrorists from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad had received combat training in Iran from the Foreign Operations Department of Iran’s Quds Force one month prior, in September.

In November, an Iranian minister and former IRGC officer confessed that he, himself, had been in the underground tunnels used by Hamas to train terrorists how to launch missiles and rockets. He stated that, upon taking office, he learned his first task was to transfer missiles to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Israel also released evidence showing Iran’s direct funding of Hamas, including financial payments to Hamas as an organization and payments made directly to Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar.