Iran’s threats against Israel – unprecedented in international community

Iran is the only country in the world that systematically and consistently threatens the destruction of another country. It’s threats against Israel continue every year via its official statements by its leaders, army commanders and media. In recent days the crescendo of threats have increased. No other country in the world has such a systematic dedicated series of attacks on another country as Iran subjects Israel to. A recent poster circulated online as part of Iran’s Quds Day propaganda is evidence of that, calling for a “final solution” that involves liberating Jerusalem.

Iran’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei threatened Israel over the last several days, apparently linked to the country’s “Quds Day” events where Iran pushes pro-Palestinian propaganda. In recent social media posts he wrote that “the Zionist regime has no power or strength on its own.” He slammed Arab countries and Saudi Arabia for “relations” with Israel. He slammed Gulf states for working with Israel. He said Israel was an example of state terror and “cancerous.” On May 19 he called to arm the West Bank. The Same evening there was an attempt to smuggle weapons from Jordan that was thwarted. In addition he tweeted that Israel was a “usurping, evil, wolf-like entity.” He called the US policy supporting Israel “satantic.” He also accused Israel of massacring people.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) May 19, 2020
On May 17 he accused the US of supporting ISIS and Israel. He claimed the same day that Israel was weak and that the Islamic world should unify against Israel. He called the “Zionist regime” a “rabid, predatory dog.”

Iran’s government media and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps takes a cue from the leader’s language. For instance an article on May 17 at Fars News called Israel “cancerous” and compared it to a “virus”, a term used during the pandemic to compare Israel to Covid-19.

On Wednesday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also bashed Israel, claiming that Islam commands that people be in “conflict with the oppressors” and that Palestinians are being persecuted. He said that the US is involved in a “conspiracy against Muslims” and that the Palestinian people must “resist” until they are “liberated.”

Mohammad Bagheri, head of the Iranian armed forces, also predicted that Israel would be destroyed. He slammed “normalization” with Israel and the “deal of the century.” He said that Israel’s allies could not ensure the survival of the “Zionist regime” and that the strategic depth of Palestinian “resistance” would defeat Israel. He said he had heard “whispers” from within Tel Aviv that the “usurper” would be defeated.

Bagheri compared the battle with Zionism to the battle with coronavirus. He said that Quds day and the Islamic Revolution’s “strategic and historic strategy” was to confront Israel but that Covid-19 had made social distancing necessary. “Millions of anti-Zionists have distanced themselves, but the holy wrath of the resistance fighters and the hearts of all the oppressed…who have their divine nature more than ever amid coronavirus, have been sympathetic to the Palestinian people.”

The avalanche of Iranian threats to Israel is portrayed as common and usual. In 2012 the IRGC predicted a war that would destroy Israel and in January 2019 the IRGC said it would destroy Israel, comments made in the similar vein appeared in April 2018 and September 2019. However the portrayal of these comments as usual or normal is in contrast to the norms of the international community. No other country has such a systematic campaign, from the top down, aimed at destroyed of another country and using terms such as “cancerous” and “virus” to describe it. Iran’s threats rarely receive a rebuke from countries that embrace Iran, including Turkey, Russia or the European Union.