Just weeks after the “historic” nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries, leaders in the Islamic Republic have launched a worrisome new campaign based on vicious anti-Western, anti-Israel rhetoric. On Saturday, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei released a book titled Palestine, which details how Iran plans to destroy Israel. The book, along with a series of inflammatory tweets and anti-Western protests in recent days, shows that Iran continues to be a threat to regional stability and plans on sponsoring terrorism.
In Palestine, Khamenei claims that the best way to annihilate the Jewish state is through small scale attacks against Israel until Jews are too scared to live there. Daily violence, Khamenei argues, will force Jews to migrate, which will be easy because most Israelis have “dual-nationality.” Khamenei also asserts that western countries, particularly, the United States, are suffering from “Israel fatigue,” and that they are exhausted by the demands of supporting the Jewish State. As Israel fatigue mounts, western countries will further distance themselves from Israel, weakening its position as a powerful force in the Middle East, he claims.
Protesters in Iran burn the Israeli flag during an al-Quds day demonstration. (Photo: AP) |
Iran’s bellicose threats come amid new sanction relief under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), allowing Tehran access to billions of dollars that could be used to fund deadly attacks against the West and Israel. The country has a long history of supporting terrorist outfits including Hezbollah and Hamas, which carry out bombings against Jews in the Middle East, Europe, and South America.
Iran’s other belligerent threats to the West include a picture of a silhouetted figure that resembles President Obama with a gun to his head posted on Khamenei’s twitter account last month. The caption of the picture reads, “…if any war happens, the one who will emerge loser will be the aggressive and criminal U.S.” The tweet was a response to President Obama’s assertion that the United States could “knock-out” Iran’s military facilities. Also, annual protests scheduled on Al-Quds Day, saw chants of “death to America” and “death to Israel.” Protesters also burned dummies that looked like President Obama and flags of Israel, the United States, and Great Britain.
American supporters of the JCPOA claim to see a modicum of goodwill from Iran and express optimism about the future, but the feeling of a larger detente is obviously not felt by Iranian leaders. Mullahs in the Islamic Republic feel emboldened under their new international legitimacy to incite violence with impunity.
