We have known for years that Iran, a self-proclaimed terrorist group, supports Hamas, a terrorist group vying for statehood. The relationship between the Islamic regime and Hamas has evolved in such a highly synchronized manner that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) indoctrinates, funds, and trains Islamic extremists, leading Israeli military officials to views Iran as a border enemy and not an ideological adversary over the border. A thousand miles away.
On October 7, Hamas made its ideology operational. Israeli intelligence officials, who dismissed early warning signs of militant training as “imaginary scenarios,” were underprepared for Hamas' capabilities and overconfident that he knew the enemy's intentions. That was revealed. Indeed, October 7 could have been foreseen as the culmination of decades of collusion between Tehran and his proxies. So why was Israel surprised?
As a Jew who grew up in the Shah's Iran and witnessed the Islamic revolution up close, I remember the slow and steady rise of Islamism in Tehran's neighborhood. From merchants and bazaars to artists and intellectuals, upwardly mobile people and lowly peasants, the call to 'Allah o Akbar' was enough to send a chill down the spine. Whether the chants were made in steel skyscrapers or mud roofs, Iranians were gripped by Islamic fever and fueled by Khomeini's powerful propaganda. The leader of the Islamic Revolution was unable to articulate his hostility towards Israel and the West, and Iran's Jewish community took him literally and seriously, emigrating in droves.
As it did for Iranian Jews, October 7th should serve as a reminder that when our adversaries tell us their intentions, we need to listen and take action. It should be. In the 1920s, Adolf Hitler published Mein Kampf, outlining his plan to establish the Thousand Year Reich and exterminate the Jewish people. In 1996, Osama bin Laden issued a fatwa declaring war on the West. In 2021, President Vladimir Putin published a 7,000-word book. Manifesto expressing the intention to reunite Ukraine and Russia. But in each case, we did not believe the enemy as they openly told us their plans, but we were surprised when they carried out exactly what they said.
Iran and Hamas, like Hitler, bin Laden, and Putin before them, have made their objectives clear. The provisions of the 1988 Hamas Charter and the anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Semitic sermons of Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, had all the warning signs. Compiling Khomeini's writings, speeches, and treatises on Islamic government into his 22 volumes, the founder of the Islamic Republic declared: [America] They seek to destroy our Islamic virtues, corrupt our land, and steal the hearts of our youth. ” “The Islamic State is a follower of the oppressor-oppressed school of thought,” and “Islam is the religion of the belligerent individual,” whose greatest sin is running away from war. [and who must] Try to wipe Israel off the map. ”
It is difficult to ignore the unmistakable similarities between Khomeini's perverted Islam and Hamas's charter. Just as Khomeini railed against the American and Israeli “colonial systems,” accusing them of having robbed Muslims for centuries, Hamas's charter “undermines society and destroys values.” It denounces the aim of “destroying… and annihilating Islam” as “Zionism's vicious colonial invasion.” ” And just as Khomeini ordered war against “infidels,” Article 15 of the original Hamas charter states that jihad is “all It is stated that it is the personal obligation of every Muslim.
Most recently, Khomeini's successor, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called Israel “non-national.” “Cancerous tumor” that “will definitely be uprooted and destroyed” He then posted an image on his website calling for a “final solution” for Israel.
The only thing that unites Shiite Tehran and Sunni Hamas is the common goal of destroying their common enemies, Israel and the United States. For Iran, that means pushing back against US-led powers and influence in the Middle East externally, while at home trumpeting real or perceived grievances with the US and Israel to keep the Iranian people aligned with Khomeini. It meant keeping them committed to their worldview. It is also a brutal crackdown on Iranian protesters, whom the regime views as pawns of foreign powers, massive human and capital investments in disinformation campaigns at home and abroad, brazen denials of historical truth, liberal It means rejecting the world order and causing havoc in neighboring countries.
The Iranian government's calculation to use provocative language and launch a protracted proxy war seeks to position the regime as the spearhead of Islamic leadership and the de facto spokesperson for the world's “oppressed peoples.” It may have been a sarcastic attempt. But success comes at a price, and the inhumane attack of October 7, which Tehran inspired, provided and financed, could backfire sooner or later.
It is significant that Saudi Arabia did not reject the idea of peace with Israel after the Israel-Hamas war. Indeed, for Saudi Arabia, the Abraham Accord states, and other Gulf states already nervous about Iran's fangs, the Iranian-Hamas attack highlights the importance of Israel in checking Iranian ambitions in the region. . If Israel destroys Hamas and the fighting subsides, these countries may seek to ease or further strengthen their military and economic ties with Israel. And Israel and the United States could sharply intensify their overt and covert operations against the Islamic regime and its long-standing regional powers.
The October 7th attack should serve as a wake-up call to the world about Hamas and the Islamic regime's murderous obsession with wiping out the Jewish people from all over the world. Their violence is not just slogans shouted at rallies. It is both a strategic goal and an operational commitment. If there was any doubt, Hamas' leaders have told us in no uncertain terms: They intend to repeat the October 7 massacre 'over and over again' Because “Israel is a nation that has no place in our land.”
The destruction of the State of Israel was the first step in Khomeini's vision of a global Islamic government. Which country will be the next target of the Islamic regime, and which extremist groups will be funded and trained to carry out its orders? Perhaps now is the time to take the administration's words literally and seriously, and act accordingly.
Naji Moinian holds a PhD in Iranian Studies from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. She is an adjunct fellow at the Middle East Institute and is currently working on a book on the story of grievances in Iranian foreign policy.
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