Iran’s supreme leader, Mojataba Khamenei, denied on Friday Tehran’s role in recent attacks in Turkiye and Oman, claiming that it was a “false flag tactic” by Israel instead.
“I should also remark that the attacks against Turkiye and Oman – both of which have good relations with us — targeting certain locations in these countries, were in no way carried out by the armed forces of the Islamic republic or the other forces of the Resistance Front.
“This is a ploy by the Zionist enemy (Israel), employing the false flag tactic to create discord between the Islamic republic and its neighbours, and it may also occur in some other countries,” Khamenei said in a statement published on his Telegram channel and official Iranian media on the occasion of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
This is Mojtaba’s second message since becoming Iran’s supreme leader following the assassination of his father and the previous supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Ali Khamenei was assassinated on February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, triggering a conflict that has expanded to the rest of the Middle East as well and the impact of which is being felt elsewhere, too, amid a global fuel crunch.
During the war, Gulf countries have also come under attack, and while Tehran accepts responsibility for some of the attacks targeting US bases and assets, it denies having a role in others. Iran has previously also denied responsibility for attacks in Turkiye and Oman.
Mojtaba also extended greetings to the Iranians on the occasion of Nowruz and Eidul Fitr.
He also extended condolences to the families of the “martyrs” of the ongoing war, which he said was imposed on Iran.
