It is becoming even more difficult to believe Iran's claims that it was not involved in Hamas' attack against Israel. A new Wall Street Journal report has surfaced further highlighting Iran’s role in the planning and execution of the terrorist organizations’ surprise attack against southern Israel on October 7, which started the current war in the Middle East. The report suggests that Hamas fighters, along with operatives from other terrorist groups, received “specialized” combat training in Iran just weeks before the assault.

This revelation shatters any lingering doubts about Iran’s role in bringing about the attack, which killed over 1,000 Israelis, many of whom were noncombatants.

In the weeks leading up to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, hundreds of the Palestinian Islamist militant group’s fighters received specialized combat training in Iran, according to people familiar with intelligence related to the assault.

Roughly 500 militants from Hamas and an allied group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, participated in the exercises in September, which were led by officers of the Quds Force, the foreign-operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the people said.

Senior Palestinian officials and Iranian Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani, the head of Quds Force, also attended, they said.

More than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed Oct. 7 by Hamas fighters who poured across the border from the Gaza Strip. Scores of others were kidnapped and taken back to Gaza, where they are being held hostage.

Hamas attackers used aerial drones to disable Israeli observation posts and high-tech surveillance equipment. Some used paragliders to fly into Israel. Others rode on motorcycles, commonly used by Iranian paramilitary groups but not by Hamas until Oct. 7.

U.S. officials said Iran has regularly trained militants in Iran and elsewhere, but they have no indications of a mass training right before the attack. U.S. officials and the people familiar with the intelligence said they had no information to suggest Iran conducted training specifically to prepare for the events of Oct. 7.

Israel quickly launched a counterattack in the form of airstrikes being carried out in the Gaza Strip, the territory Hamas controls. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is currently gearing up for a major ground invasion into the region to eradicate Hamas.

Israel has long highlighted Iran’s support for Hamas and other terrorist organizations. However, United States officials claim they have no direct evidence pointing to the Iranian regime’s involvement in this specific attack. However, given the Wall Street Journal’s findings, one has to wonder: Do we really need a smoking gun when the room is full of smoke?

Earlier this month, another report revealed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah met with Iranian officials in March to discuss a military offensive against Israel. The group has engaged in skirmishes with Israeli forces in the northern part of the country and has indicated it might ramp up its attacks against the Jewish state.

It was also revealed that Iranian security officials assisted Hamas in planning the October 7 attack on Israel. Senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah said the regime gave the go-ahead for the assault at a meeting in Beirut. However, U.S. officials still claim the regime did not participate in the planning of the attack.

These accounts of the Oct. 2 meeting have been disputed by senior U.S. officials and others familiar with intelligence surrounding the attacks. Several U.S. officials said Washington has “compelling” intelligence indicating that Iranian leaders were surprised by the Hamas assault.

“The information that we have does not show a direct connection to the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 as it relates to Iran. Again, that’s something that we’ll continue to look closely at,” Pentagon spokesman Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said last week.

Hamas officials have boasted of Iran’s support since the attacks. “Hezbollah and Iran supported us with weapons, expertise, and technology,” Khaled Meshaal, a senior Hamas official in Doha, said in an interview with Al Arabiya.

Nevertheless, despite the cloak-and-dagger game Iran is playing, it seems evident that they were far more involved in the operation than they would like the world to believe. Perhaps it would be better for international actors to stop going along with the regime’s narrative and begin peeling back the layers of Tehran’s involvement in the war.