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 that is in the midst of its own presidential election, is just the tip of an emerging narrative in Iran that positions itself front and center for the Palestinians.
Hamas attributes victory against Israel to Iranian supporthttps://t.co/gEaDPCAF0Z
— Press TV (@PressTV) May 24, 2021
Iran has long tried to hijack and use the Palestinian issue for its own ends, not unlike what regimes like the Nasser government of Egypt did in the 1950s, or even what Turkey’s current regime does. But here it is different because Hamas uses Iranian technology for its drones and missiles – Iran doesn’t just send financial assistance, but provides technical know-how. Hamas would not have a rocket arsenal if it wasn’t for Iran; other jihadist-style movements 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 state-owned news network Press TV. “A Hamas official has said the Palestinians won the latest war against Israel thanks to the support provided by Iran.”
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,” said Hamas representative in Iran Khaled al-Qaddoumi, in an interview with Press TV on Monday. “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 Zionist regime’s narrative is starting to be isolated.”
A key part of that 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? It managed to hit “at least six airbases... including Hatzerim airbase, as well as a battery of the Iron Dome missile system... Qadoumi also attributed the Palestinians victory to the support provided by Iran to the Palestinian resistance, including rocket technology.”
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, that Israel took out 675 rocket launchers, and struck 1,500 targets. Nevertheless, pro-Iran statements note that dozens of rockets did have an impact. They argue that this is a victory, and that 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.