Republicans Probing Malley's Ties To Iran’s Influence Network

Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei talked of “betting on the losing horse” in reference to regional countries, Saudi Arabia in particular, thawing relations with Israel mere days before the attack. The Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards have also been providing money, weapons, military training and intelligence to militarize the Gaza Strip for years.

The regime was also so quick to install banners and billboards and hold street celebrations for the attack, that people started asking questions if they had been prepared for it. Hamas thanks Iran for support, and Iran reassures that they will get more but implies it had nothing to do with the operation. 

In Iran, after Khamenei dictates the themes of the regime’s policy vis-a-vis global developments, other officials and clerics as well as his representatives across the country who are Friday Imams of the cities, start to promulgate them. The office of the Supreme Leader also produces media content to make sure other officials know the themes, such as the “losing horse,” that was made into a video clip and has also become a trendy hashtag in cybersphere by the regime’s online soldiers.

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In addition to Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi other senior politicians have been vocal in adulation of the attack. About three days into the war that started with Hamas killing about a thousand Israelis, injuring several thousands, and taking scores as hostages, firebrand cleric Ahmad Khatami, one of Tehran’s Friday Prayer Imams, talked of the regime’s promise of annihilation of Israel and described the attack as “heroic” on Tuesday. "We send a message to the governments that are moving towards normalizing relations with Israel that this path is a dead-end,” he said. 

Hossein Noori Hamedani, a conservative grand ayatollah in Iran, said, "Islamic countries should not think of normalizing relations with a country that cannot protect itself and has a government on the brink of collapse."

Mohammad Sadat, the head of the Islamic Development Coordination Council in Kordestan province, not only congratulated Khamenei for the Hamas attack but also threatened that more extensive attacks on Israel would occur. He added, "This prideful operation was a warning to the hegemonic countries."

Congratulations to Hamas came from Abdolnabi Mousavi-Fard, Khamenei’s man in Khuzestan province, stating that "Hamas has executed brilliant scenes of resistance and steadfastness." He added, "The firing of thousands of rockets and missiles at Israel is a blessing of the presence of Khamenei and the school of Qasem Soleimani." As the commander of IRGC’s Quds extraterritorial force, Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s proxy warfare in the region. He was killed by a US drone attack in 2020. 

Even officials known to be critical of the regime, such as reformist heavyweight Mohammad Khatami, have hailed the attack as “a significant achievement for the Palestinian people.”  

As the international community continues to denounce the Hamas invasion, Iranian officials are openly encouraging Palestinians to escalate their efforts.

Ali Fadavi, the deputy commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), described Hamas's attack on Israel as "historic" and stated, "The Islamic Republic has played an effective role in boosting the spirit of resistance and battle." The ‘resistance’ is the term the Islamic Republic regime calls its logistic, financial and intelligence support for the militia groups in the region, several of which were created by Iran. 

Mohammad Baqeri, the chairman of the chiefs of staff of the Iranian armed forces, claimed it would not be long before Palestinian youth succeeded in liberating the Al-Aqsa Mosque from what he referred to as "the Zionist enemy." He slammed the ongoing normalization attempts between Israel and Arab nations as a "plot" to prevent the collapse of the Jewish state, saying it “could neither halt nor delay the inevitable decline of Israel".

Iran is not shy about its support for the groups. Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf said on Tuesday, "There is no doubt that we will stand by them in realizing the aspirations of the Palestinian people and taking the necessary measures." Shahriar Heydari, the deputy chairman of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament, told Didbaniran website that "the Islamic Republic provides training to Palestinian fighters, and we assist in military training." He added, "As long as the people and fighters of Palestine need the Islamic Republic, we try to meet those needs."

Iran has supported various regional militant groups over the years including Hamas, which receives around $100 million in aid each year in addition to the provision of weaponry and financial resources for its operations. Naser Kanaani, spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reiterated claims that the Palestinian group had launched the attack independently, adding that the accusations against Iran were politically motivated.

As the casualties soar and the US ‘adversaries’ smirk, critics of the Biden administration boil in anger and disgust.

“Nine Americans are dead, an unknown number are missing or held hostage, yet President Biden is nowhere to be seen and has nothing to say,” Senator Tom Cotton wrote on X. “He’s totally overmatched by events and paralyzed in a crisis, partly because his own foolish appeasement of Iran fueled a campaign of terror.”

Not surprisingly, Biden’s Iran policy is a common attack line.

The administration’s secret talks in search of an informal nuclear deal with the Iranian regime was never popular in Washington. Releasing $6 billion of frozen assets as part of the ‘prisoner swap’ was even less popular. And hiring someone with deep, longstanding ties with Tehran for a senior role in the Pentagon was almost universally disapproved.

But then came the unprecedented attack on Israel from a group supported by Iran, which took everything to the next level. More than 900 Israelis have been killed in the attacks.

“The Saturday attack was really an Iranian attack on Israel, using Hamas as a surrogate,” opined John Bolton on X. “The Biden Administration should get a spine and pin the blame on Tehran where it belongs.”

John Bolton is no friend of the ayatollahs, of course. He has been pushing for regime change in Iran for two decades at least. But this time his calls may find more willing ears than ever.

There’s no clear evidence that the Iranian regime had a direct role in the attacks on Israel. This is the official line –from both Tehran and Washington. But it seems to have convinced no one.

“The Biden administration hasn’t acknowledged Iran’s involvement in Hamas’s terrorism because it would be an indictment of the administration’s disastrous concessions to Iran,” Senator Cotton again.

And Mike Pompeo, former Secretary of State, whom the Islamic Republic reportedly wanted to assassinate: “Make no mistake: this is at its core about historic efforts by Iran to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.”

Pompeo’s remarks could’ve been shrugged off as personal vendetta, had it not been echoed by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic himself.

“God willing,” he was quoted on his official X account, “the cancer of the usurper Zionist regime will be eradicated at the hands of the Palestinian people and the Resistance forces throughout the region.”

Some believe the Iranian regime is hoping for another US military entanglement in the Middle East. One involving others, of course. It’s a smart plan. But any miscalculation could prove costly.

As Israeli forces gear up for what seems to be a large-scale ground operation in Gaza, the US is dispatching aircraft carriers to the region.

The Biden administration does not seem to be looking for military confrontation with Iran. But he may have to do something meaningful to fight off the constant accusations of ‘appeasement’ in an election year.

In the past few weeks, the ‘Iran influence scandal’ has further eroded Biden’s shaky approval rates. His administration has done little to address concerns about the US Iran Envoy, Robert Malley, whose security clearance has been taken away while the FBI investigates his ‘handling’ of classified information.

The Republicans see Malley as a promising pressure point. They have been pushing it for a few months now, and they are likely to push it harder after the attack on Israel.

“Biden’s Special Envoy Rob Malley hired and placed Iranian assets in government positions with access to classified information,” wrote Rep. Claudia Tenney on X, “Congress must investigate whether any classified information provided by these Iranian assets was used in planning this horrific invasion of Israel.”

However, the ordinary citizens swiftly made it evident that they were not inclined to accept the regime's rhetoric. The public promptly ridiculed the government's poorly constructed celebration of Hamas's "victory" just hours after the attacks commenced. Many took to social media to question the government, asking, "Are you celebrating hundreds of lives lost on both sides?"

On the third day, a poorly assembled piece of disinformation on the state TV's news channel, IRINN, backfired. Many Iranians quickly pointed out that the footage shown in the Monday morning news bulletin, depicting Hamas militants supposedly taking Israeli army generals hostage, was actually from the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh two weeks prior, during which Azerbaijani commandos were apprehending local Armenian officials.

Sunday afternoon in a stadium in Tehran, tens of thousands reacted to the government's propaganda by telling in explicit rude terms where to shove hundreds of Palestinian flags that were hoisted around the stadium. 

Some observers noted that the change from polite slogans in the past about "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon" to this new sexually explicit slogan was the outcome of the Iranian government's refusal to listen to what the people want. 

Off the beaten track of state-run propaganda, in an article on a slightly independent website, reformist figure Azar Mansoori tried to explain "Why Iranians no longer support the Palestinian resistance." She pointed out that 45 years of government propaganda promoting the "resistance" has confined support for Palestinian movements to a few state-owned media outlets. She argued that the fervent pro-Palestinian rhetoric has waned due to the government's double standards.

Mansoori argued that while the government constantly lent political and material support to the Palestinian groups, it ignored the repression of Muslims in other parts of the world. 

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By material support, she meant billions of dollars Iran has given to groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. And by “elsewhere in the world,” she meant China in particular. 

However, due to the intense censorship in Iran, Mansoori couldn't explicitly state that Iranians are deeply frustrated with their government for allocating funds that should have been used for their welfare to Palestinian groups recognized internationally as terrorists.

Meanwhile in an article on Etemad Online, reformist commentator Abbas Abdi cautiously warned the government to avoid premature decisions as "Israel and Hamas are not the only players in this war and no one knows what the future holds for them" and for Iran. "It is like a coin tossed in the air and it could flip in many ways before it finally lands."

Speaking about the gruesome nature of some of the pictures released from the first day of the attack about the way Hamas treated hostages, particularly women and children, Abdi suggested that it should have respected the rules of war, adding that Hamas's behavior could portray an image of the group that elicits hatred. He added that Israel's behavior over the years has triggered the same kind of reaction. 

Abdi, who is one of a handful of reformist commentators allowed to write in the media, added that the problem of Palestine cannot be solved by use of force and a sustainable agreement is needed to end the conflict. 

He also expressed the view that the attitude projected by Iran regarding the war, which includes endorsing the mistreatment of hostages and those who have been killed, or encouraging such behavior, is more detrimental to Iran than any actual war. Abdi recommended that Iranian officials' rhetoric should encompass a combination of ethical and humanitarian principles alongside national interests. 

Following the Hamas invasion of Israel over the weekend, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanaani, stated on Monday that "Tehran has called for an emergency meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss regional developments."

Iran denied involvement in the attacks in spite of a spokesman from Al-Qassem Brigades, the Hamas military wing, thanking Iran for its support on its Telegram channel. The onslaught which began on Saturday morning has resulted in the death of over 700 Israelis and the abduction of dozens of civilians and soldiers including women and children by the Iran-backed proxy. More than 400 Palestinians have also lost their lives in retaliatory airstrikes.

In spite of the close ties of Hamas to its biggest backer, Iran, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that there was so far no evidence implicating Iran in the recent attacks on Israel. High level meetings have seen Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh meet with regime leaders in Tehran and Beirut multiple times in recent weeks.

Seemingly in response to the allegations of Iran's involvement, Kanaani said, "Anyone who threatens the Islamic Republic of Iran should know that any foolish action will be met with a devastating response".

Meanwhile, Hossein Jalali, an Iranian MP, commented on Hamas's operation, dubbed Al Aqsa Storm, stating, "While we cannot physically participate in the conflict with Israel, we lend our support to Hamas." He added, "Our battle against Israel is waged through the resistance forces and their ideology."

Iran's support for Palestinian factions is part of a broader network of militias and armed groups it backs across the Middle East, which extends Tehran's influence into Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza. In 2018, the US Middle East envoy revealed the regime funds its Gaza proxy $100m annually.

The Hamas operation, considered the most significant incursion into Israel in decades which saw hundreds of militants infiltrate by land, sea and air, coincides with US-backed efforts to encourage Saudi Arabia to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for a defense agreement between Washington and Riyadh.

Some prominent US political figures expressed concerns over the administration's Iran deal and the release of funds that Iran is allegedly funneling to its proxies.

Former National Security Advisor of the United States, John Bolton, raised a pivotal question regarding the brutal Hamas attack on Israel asking whether Hamas acted independently or under orders from the Iranian government, which provides financial support, arms, and training to Hamas fighters. Bolton stated, "The evidence is becoming clearer hour by hour that the real aggressor here is Iran."

Morgan Ortagus, former Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, also condemned Iranian-backed terrorists for their reprehensible actions during the attack. She referred to disturbing videos circulating on social media that depicted Hamas militants brutally dragging the lifeless bodies of Israeli women through the streets after assaulting and killing them. Ortagus asserted, "Biden has got to stop sending billions of dollars to Iran. Just stop it."

Former CIA officer Norman Roule echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the grave consequences of sanctions relief for Iran. He pointed out that while Iran has supported Hamas with hundreds of millions of dollars even under stringent sanctions, the recent relaxation of sanctions has significantly escalated Iran's support, resulting in deadly consequences for civilians.

Roule stated, "The next time someone argues that sanctions have no impact or presses for sanctions relief, remind them of this moment. Decisions have consequences."

The attack has resulted in a significant loss of life in Israel, with at least 250 people killed and 1,500 wounded, making it the deadliest assault on Israel in decades, people taken hostage in their homes, killed in the streets and in their cars, and whole villages under siege by Hamas militants who infiltrated by land, sea and air.