Iran mobilized its media in the region to exploit the explosion at a hospital in Gaza on October 17 to increase threats to Israel and the US.
Protesters in Iran, Lebanon and other countries were likely guided and exploited by these reports, which falsely portrayed the explosion as Israel’s fault.
Iran uses incendiary language in portraying the attack. For instance, Iran’s Fars News media described the blast at the hospital as the “real Holocaust.” The report in Iranian media, which is close to the IRGC, called Israel a “demonic” regime and accused it of being a “Zionist child-killing” country.
It also claimed that the attack was linked to US support for Israel. It used the terms “evil,” “barbaric” and “bloodthirsty creature.”
Iran puts out anti-Israel, US propaganda
In the report, Tehran has put out propaganda designed to incite against the US and Israel. The report says that “we consider the criminal America responsible and the main cause of this genocide and crimes against humanity by the Zionist regime. The brave and anti-tyranny people of Iran will show their anger and hatred for the brutal crimes of the Zionist child-killing regime throughout the country today.”
This type of language is unique to Iran, which often bashes Israel. The use of terms such as “holocaust” and “demonic” are meant to dehumanize Israel and the US.
It comes as US President Joe Biden is arriving in the region. Iran has sought to exploit the explosion to encourage other countries not to meet the US president. It is clear that protests in Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, as well as Turkey, were largely orchestrated quickly to respond to the explosion. This illustrates that Iran may have been waiting for an excuse such as this.
Israel has accused Hamas of lying about the incident and trying to inflame tensions. Because Hamas is backed by Iran, it is possible that they consulted on this strategy. Iran’s foreign minister met Hamas leaders in Qatar last week and agreed to continue to cooperate.
Hezbollah has also tried to exploit the explosion by claiming the hospital blast is similar to the bombing of Qana and the attack at Sabra and Shatilla in the 1980s. Clearly, all members of Iran’s “axis of resistance” have adopted a similar narrative. In Iraq, pro-Iran groups were likely behind launching drones to target US forces.