Iran’s 84-year-old Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised the terrorist group Hamas for winning the war in Gaza, saying it’s “a fact” that Israel lost. Like other totalitarian regimes, disinformation and propaganda rule the day, not reality. Khamenei, a brutal dictator hiding behind Iran’s Shiite theocracy, cracks down on dissent whenever it threatens mullah rule. Khamenie knows that Gaza is in ruins because of Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, where over 1,200 Israelis and other nationalities were slaughtered by Hamas terrorists, all to Khamenei a source of victory for Iran as the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism. Iran likes to fight its battles with proxy forces like Hamas, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemnen’s Houthi rebels. Khemenei wants no part of direct conflict with Iran, fearing an end of mullah rule. But with proxy wars, Iran commits a wide swath of global crimes.
Imagine Iran saying Hamas has won its war with Israel with the world watching the Gaza Strip bombed into the Stone Age but, more importantly, Israel Defense Forces [IDF] occupying Gaza to terminate Hamas rule. Iran thinks Hamas has won the war because it’s a propaganda war, Hamas thinks it’s winning by turning global public opinion against Israel Today’s recent Havard/Harris poll shows that 80% of Americans back the Israeli war with Hamas, regardless of infrastructure damage and civilian casualties. So, when Khamenei talks of the glorious Hamas victory, he’s only talking of the propaganda war that Hamas wins in the Arab world. Khamenei told exiled Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh last week that Iran would not join the Hams-Israeli war, largely because Hamas did not inform Tehrn in advance about the Oct. 7 massacre, leaving 1,200 dead and taking about 240 hostages.
Khamenei told the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerospace force that the “defeat of the Zionist regime [Israel] in Gaza is a fact,” showing how oblivious Iranians are of the realities of available metrics. Hamas finds itself hiding in tunnels while the IDF combs through Gaza’s rubble to seal of all available tunnels used by Hamas to hide from Israeli forces. “Advancing and entering hospitals or people’s homes is not a victory, because victor means defeating the other side,” Khamenei said. So, in Khaemenei’s Orwellian words, Israel cannot defeat the idea of ending Zionist rule in the Holy Land. Forget about how Khamenei himself and all other Muslim states refuse to rescue Hamas from Israel’s assault on Gaza. With total control over Iran’s Internet, Kheamenei hopes to keep all Iranians in the dark, especially the Revolutionary Guards Corps waging proxy war.
Khamenei declares victory in Gaza to state exactly the opposite of reality, to keep Hamas’ fake idea alive that it’s succeeding in the realm of Islamic terrorism to defeat Israeil. By anyone’s metrics, Israel has decimated the Gaza Stirp and looks poised to eventually achieve regime change in Gaza. President Joe Biden, 81, said that sovereignty of Gaza should be turned over to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, led by 87-year-old Mahmoud Abbaas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has little faith in Abbas for his capacity to govern Gaza in its present leadership. Abbas wouldn’t acknowledge the Hamas massacre, fearing he would write his own obituary, just like Palestine Liberation Organiztion [PLO] Chairman Yasser Arafat did Nov. 11, 2004 when he was poisoned by Hamas. Abbas can never cross Hamas without radicals in Ramallah terminating his rule.
Khamenei says Netanyahu “has so far failed” in his stated goal of ending Hamas rule in Gaza. Unlike the past, no oil-rich Arab Gulf State wants to give Hamas more cash to squander on tunnels and wars with Israel. Khamenei, like Hamas, is committed to the propaganda war with the Sunni Arab world that Iran leads the battle against Israeli rule. With other Arab states, including the United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Qatar making peace with Israel, it was only a matter of time before Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman made peace with Israel. No Arab state backs Khamenei’s vision of destroying Israel any longer. Many Arab states learned a bitter lesson of what happens in war with Israel. Khamenei’s dictatorship thrives on using Israel as its archenemy. Watching Gaza’s destruction reminds Arab states about the price of war with Israel.
Khamenei gives the state of affairs with Gaza new meaning as to what constitutes victory over Israel. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has exploited Sunni Arab, especially Palestinian, hatred over Jewish rule of the Holy Land. Arabs lived of over 500 years under Ottoman and British rule but once Jews took over the Holy Land in 1948, the Arabs rebelled. Had Palestinian groups spent time making peace with Israel they would have more prosperity and most likely an independent state regardless of past hatred. Iran and Hams fuel the old hatred because it perpetuates their rule over oppressed populations, unable to make any real progress. Most of Iran’s educated population have long emigrated to escape mullah totalitarian rule. When it comes to Gaza, Palestinians deserve responsible leadership, looking for peace and cooperation to assure a brighter future for all.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
