While Iran was likely involved in planning Hamas' attack to a certain degree, Israel's retaliation will depend on Tehran's exact participation, opening the door to direct Israeli attacks against Iran's nuclear program that could, in turn, spur attacks by Iranian proxies against Israel and the U.S. interests in the region. According to an Oct. 8 report by The Wall Street Journal citing senior Hamas and Hezbollah members, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) helped plan the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed more than 900 Israelis and resulted in the kidnapping of more than 100 people. The report said that beginning in August, senior IRGC officials -- including, at times, Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani and, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian -- met biweekly with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hezbollah to plan the attack, which Iran allegedly gave its final approval for on Oct. 2. The...
