Iranian Armed Forces spokesman: Zionist state will disappear from Earth

Commemorating fighters from various units and the Basij on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, he spoke with passion about how Iran’s “resistance” was confronting the US and Israel.

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
Iranian armed forces members march during the ceremony of the National Army Day parade in Tehran, Iran September 22, 2019 (photo credit: WANA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS)
Iranian armed forces members march during the ceremony of the National Army Day parade in Tehran, Iran September 22, 2019
(photo credit: WANA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERS)
Israel will soon disappear from the Middle East, Brig.-Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi of the Iranian army’s public relations sector said on Tuesday. He was speaking to veterans in Zarandieh in northeastern Iran.
Commemorating fighters on the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, he spoke with passion about how Iran’s “resistance” was confronting the US and Israel.
He discussed the missile attack by Iran on Ayn al-Assad base in Iraq, where up to a hundred US soldiers are now suffering from traumatic brain injuries. He said it represented Iran’s abilities to defeat enemies.
He reminded those present of the “resistance forces, including Hezbollah, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, Hamas and others.” In his estimation, the “Zionist regime” will soon “disappear.”
Other spokesmen for the armed forces said “today we are in a state of war with the enemy, and we must have smart choices for those running the parliament and send people to parliament who are willing to be martyrs.” Elections are on February 21.
The rhetoric against Israel is nothing new from Iran but the list of “resistance” factions is part of Iran’s worldview that increasingly sees Hezbollah, Shi’ite militias in Iraq and Palestinian groups like Hamas as all part of the same force.
In this view, Iran is the great leader of a mass of fighters across the region, all arrayed against the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and some other states. Iran’s rhetoric seeks to instill into a new generation this imperial impulse to dominate the Middle East via these factions – and to see them all as not only allies but directed from Tehran.