LOS ANGELES.–Meeting in Tehran to celebrate the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hosted what’s left of Hamas’s leadership council including leader Mohammed Darwish and Nazar Awadallah, boasting about its defeat of Israel. Khamenei sees the ceasefire deal as a form of surrender by Israel, giving into public pressure to pause the conflict to exchange Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. “You defeated the Zionist regime [Israel] which was in fact America’s defeat,” Khamenei told the Hamas delegation. Khamenei thrives on pitting his Shiite regime against the U.S. and Israel, maintaining power by a brutal repression of any dissent. Iran’s youthful population would like nothing more than to see Khamenei drop dead but there’s no guarantee that would change mullah rule in Iran. Ordinary Iranians despise the repressive mullah regime.
When 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini was beaten to death by the Basij militia Sept. 16, 2022 for improperly wearing her hijab, the Iranian people protested violently for months before a brutal crackdown by Khamenei. Thousands of young people took to the streets realizing they had no freedom, only living under the Ayatollah’s violent theocracy. No one knows how many young people were arrested, jailed and liquidated by the regime to regain control. Ayatollah likes to use Palestinians to spread anti-Semitism, even though he practices Shiism, not Hamas’s Sunni Islam. Ayatollah has no religious or ethnic connection to Palestinians but adopted the cause of destroying Israel. Hamas doesn’t care who donates cash-and-arms to the cause as long as they supply the goods. Hamas goes to Tehran knowing that over a year of war has destroyed the Gaza Strip.
Ayatollah told the late Hamas leader in exile Ismail Haniyeh in Oct. 2023, shortly after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, that he would not get involved with their war with Israel. Ayatollah told Haniyeh that it was Hamas’s problem, not Tehran’s. So, when it comes to committing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards or the Qud’s force, once commanded by Qasem Soleimani, he could offer Hamas no help. When it comes to rebuilding Gaza now that it’s been bombed into the Stone Age, the Ayatollah won’t supply the cash needed for the rebuild. Hamas hopes that the oil rich Gulf States, led by Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates [UAE] and Qatar would pony up the cash. With Trump in the White House, he won’t allow Hamas to receive any of the past cash donations from the Arab Gulf States. Gulf State Arabs know that Hamas looted the Gaza Strip for the last 20 years.
Khamenei said Hamas did not allow Israel or the U.S. to achieve any of their political objectives. “You did not allow them to achieve any of their goals,” Khamenei told Hamas leaders, even though the Gaza Strip has been leveled. Hamas works the U.S. and global press to blame all the casualties on Israel, when, in fact, Hamas considers Palestinians living in Gaza cannon fodder in the resistance of destroying Israel. Because as small cadre of Hamas continue to hole up in Gaza’s military tunnels, they consider it a great victory over Israel and the U.S. Forget about what the people of Gaza are forced to live through, they’re all part to the grander scheme of resistance in fighting the Zionist enemy, “from the River to the Sea,” a popular phrase meaning to push the State of Israel into the Mediterranean. Only Hamas and certain Palestinians believe that they’ll one day defeat Israel.
Ayatollah Khamenei knows what it’s like to have 78-year-old President Donald Trump in power. What he doesn’t realize this time around is that Trump is dead serious about stopping Tehran from pursuing an A-bomb. Trump has said emphatically that he will use all resources at his disposal to prevent the Ayatollah from going nuclear. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the same page as Trump, refusing to allow the Ayatollah to get the bomb. Darwish presented Ayatollah with a report talking up “the victories and successes that were achieved” in battling Israel for over a year. Ayatollah watched in the same year Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah killed by Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza. Watching Hamas and Hezbollah leadership was a blow to the Ayatollah, pretending it never happened.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump have a big task ahead of them to rid the Gaza Strip of Hamas. With the Ayatollah backing Hamas every way possible, Trump and Netanyahu will have to figure out their next moves once the hostages are returned to Israel. Netanyahu know that he won’t get all the hostages back because Hamas will continue to hang onto its leverage. So, Netanyahu and Trump will have to figure out his next move with Hamas. If Trump can get the European Union and Arab Gulf States onboard to get rid of Hamas, it will be a real accomplishment. So far, there’s been no coherent approach to dealing with Hamas. Trump must lead foreign leaders, especially in the EU and Gulf States, to reject Hamas, demanding that they leave the Gaza Strip. If there’s any chance of peace, Hamas cannot continue to rule the Gaza Strip.
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.
