Iran is preparing to bash Israel and increase the rhetoric and incitement against Israel throughout the Middle East this weekend as it rolls out Quds Day. Held on the last Friday of Ramadan, the day is pushed by Tehran to use Palestinian issues as a tool and make it seem like Iran has a legitimate reason to hate Israel.
This year’s Quds Day comes after tensions in Jerusalem and after Iran deal talks appear to have stalled. Iran also could be heading for “breakout” in its quest for a nuclear weapon. Tehran is also upping drone supplies, using technology and know-how and advise, as well as actual drones, to Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to Iranian reports.
The IRGC has put out statements in preparation for Friday’s Quds Day events, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported. The day is held the last Friday of Ramadan and often coincides with Laylat al-Qadr, an important day for Muslim worshipers who gather in Jerusalem.
This means Iran wants to ride these last days of the holy month to get as much political capital as possible. Tehran knows that much of the region isn’t interested in its “Quds Day,” so it has to manufacture a crisis.
The scope of threats to Israel are increasing, and the “Zionist regime” is not as secure in the past, Tasnim reported. Iranian media talk about “Intifada.” Iran talks about the “wonderful and meaningful phenomena” of Quds Day.
“It is considered as a clear and decisive role in supporting the oppressed nation of Palestine and igniting the fire of anger and anti-Zionist hatred of the Islamic Ummah and the world of humanity,” Tasnim quoted the IRGC as saying. IRGC Commander Hossein Salami will give a speech Friday, according to Mehr News in Iran.
Meanwhile, Mohammad Ghalibaf, an important Iranian politician and former military officer, gave an interview in his role as speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. He had a meeting with a senior Hamas member, Iranian media reported. He praised the “Islamic resistance” and Palestinian “martyrs” and slammed Israel’s role in Jerusalem.
Tasnim also stressed Iran’s support for Hezbollah’s drones. It highlighted an Israeli report to prove that Iran has been helping Hezbollah with its drone program.
“The Zionist study center stressed that Hezbollah has been trying to launch its drones for nearly 20 years and has stepped up its efforts in recent years,” Tasnim reported. “The point to note is that these drones are very difficult to intercept because they fly at low altitudes.”
Iran also has a Coordinating Council for Islamic Propaganda, which it said was “inviting the Iranian people to participate in the Quds Day march and announced the 10 routes of the march in Tehran.”
In a rambling statement, the council said the issue of Palestine was important and accused Israel of “child-killing, occupying and usurping the regime of Holy Quds [Jerusalem] – one of the serious plans of the global domination and arrogance system led by the criminal America against the spread of Islam and overcoming free and independent countries in the region and the world.”
Iran had apparently postponed the Quds Day mass marches due to COVID over the last two years. It now wants to come back with a vengeance and says that it will have marches in some 900 cities.
“It has been prepared from large mosques and main squares to Friday prayer appointments,” the council said. “The ceremony will also be held in more than 90 countries with the presence of Muslims.”
The Iranian regime's grift here is clear, and it is putting on a big show with all the statements about Quds Day. It’s not clear if average Iranians care about this, but Iran will try to pretend they do.
Iran is also rolling out other members of groups it is allied with in the region. Sheikh Naim Qassem of Hezbollah, who was born in 1953, has been quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Fars News Agency for slamming Israel and claiming that Quds Day is a “starting point” in freeing Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah has bankrupted Lebanon and destroyed part of it to siphon off and steal state resources. At the same time, Lebanon keeps Palestinians in poverty-stricken conditions.
As part of the Iranian regime’s talking points, Tehran has slammed “normalization” with Israel, a reference to countries in the Gulf that made peace with Israel in 2020. Iran knows that normalization threatens the Iranian militia proxy mafia, such as the occupation of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Iran offers primarily war, chaos and poverty to areas it has a role in. Meanwhile, it knows Israel and Israel’s partners and friends tend to be more stable and wealthy.