Iran’s speaker of Parliament has urged Muslim countries to adopt policies to put an end to Israel's “apartheid policy and genocide of Palestinian people” according to Iran’s state media. That outlandish claim, made by Iran’s regime which is in the midst of its own presidential election, is just the tip of the iceberg of an emerging narrative in Iran which positions itself front and center for the Palestinians.
Iran has long tried to hijack and use the Palestinian issue for its own ends. This is not that much different than what regimes like the Nasser government of Egypt did in the 1950s or even what Turkey’s current regime does. But it is different in that Hamas uses Iranian technology for its drones and missiles.
This is important. Iran doesn’t just send financial assistance but has provided technical know-how. Hamas would not have a rocket arsenal if it wasn’t for Iran. Other jihadist-style movements like Hamas don’t have such weapons. Iran made Hamas what it is. And now Tehran is openly admitting how much of a role it played in the conflict that began on May 10.
“Much of the credit for the potency of the Palestinian resistance in #Gaza today belongs to Iran, which for some years now has been training Palestinian fighters in weapons and tactics, and has aided them in amassing a vast arsenal of missiles,” says Iran’s Press TV.
The state-owned news network goes on to note that “a Hamas official has said the Palestinians won the latest war against Israel thanks to the support provided by Iran.” It then explains that “in an interview with Press TV on Monday, Hamas representative in Iran Khaled al-Qaddoumi said rockets fired from Gaza were in response to Israeli atrocities against Palestinians at al-Aqsa Mosque and the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.”
Iran has already explained that Hamas didn’t need to win a victory over Israel in this war. All it had to do was survive. It set a low bar. Israel had more to lose by not winning. “It is not the matter of who is the victor. It’s the matter of how much the resistance fighters managed to thwart the goals of the Israeli regime and to convey the message of the Palestinian people to the international community,” the Hamas representative said. “The Zionist regime's narrative is starting to be isolated,” he said.
A key part of the Hamas narrative, which has now been replicated in message discipline by Iran and Hezbollah members, is that Israel is not telling the whole story about its own losses. This could appear as a conspiracy, but it is key to the narrative. “The fatalities were higher than the official numbers,” Press TV says.
So what did Hamas achieve, according to Iran? Hamas managed to hit “at least six airbases… including Hatzerim airbase, as well as a battery of the Iron Dome missile system.” Hamas has created innovative ways to create rockets. “Qadoumi also attributed the Palestinians victory to the support provided by Iran to the Palestinian resistance, including rocket technology….’This technology has been transferred also from other brothers in the Muslim Ummah,’ he said, adding Iran ‘was on the top of them.’”
As evidence of Hamas's abilities, some point to claims that some 5,000 places were damaged in Israel, including many cars and buildings. Israel has said that 4,360 rockets were fired from Gaza, 680 misfired, and that Israel took out 675 rocket launchers and struck 1,500 targets. Nevertheless, pro-Iran statements note that dozens of rockets did impact. They argue that this is a victory, and they got around the Iron Dome air defense system and inflicted more death and damage than in the 2014 war.
The main point is that Iran wants to take credit for this round of fighting against Israel. It sees it as a major victory – and its media is making various arguments toward this end.
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