Iran's leader said: Israel will suffer destruction
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei praised last year's Hamas raid on Israeli territory and said Tel Aviv would be "destroyed".
"Operation Storm Al-Aqsa pushed Israel on a path that will end in decline and destruction," Mr. Khamenei declared on June 3, when speaking at the 35th anniversary of the death of the founder of the Communist Republic. Islamic Republic of Iran Ruhollah Khomeini.
"Operation Al-Aqsa Storm" is the name of the coordinated raid conducted by Hamas on Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. During the attack, the armed group killed more than 1,100 people and took more than 250 hostages to the Gaza Strip, causing Tel Aviv to launch a retaliation campaign. Iran claims it did not know in advance about Hamas's "Operation Storm Al-Aqsa", but has repeatedly praised the attack.
According to leader Khamenei, the Hamas raid was a "decisive blow" to Israel, forcing Tel Aviv into a "dead corner of the battlefield". He said the operation took place "at the right time", contributing to "destroying a large-scale international conspiracy targeting the Middle East region", seemingly referring to US-led efforts to mend relations. relationship between Israel and Arab powers.
The Iranian leader emphasized that Israel "is melting before the eyes of people around the world" and "sooner or later, America will have to stop supporting" Israel. Tel Aviv and Washington are facing great pressure from the international community, in the context of increasing civilian casualties due to Israel's retaliation campaign in the Gaza Strip.
According to data from local health authorities, the conflict has left 36,439 people dead and 82,627 injured as of June 2, most of them women and children.
Pressure on Tel Aviv increased after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched an airstrike on the "Kuwait Peace Camp 1" area in Tal al-Sultan, on the outskirts of the southernmost city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. The attack targeted two high-ranking Hamas officials nearby, but caused a fire at the camp, killing at least 45 people and injuring 249.
The incident sparked a wave of strong criticism from the international community, including the US, aimed at Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted the airstrike was a "tragic mistake" and said the country was investigating the cause of the massive civilian casualties. Experts say the IDF made a mistake by not using small, more accurate weapons in the airstrike.
In a speech on June 3, Iranian leader Khamenei said that the current tragic situation in the Gaza Strip is the price the Palestinian people have paid in exchange for their "liberation".
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran, the largest power among Shiite Muslim countries, has become an archenemy of Israel and some of its Western allies such as the United States, Older brother.
However, Tehran and Tel Aviv have hardly been in direct conflict, except for Iran's coordinated missile and drone attack on Israeli territory in April in response to the embassy incident. of this country in Syria was attacked not long ago. Instead, Iran has established an "Axis of Resistance" consisting of pro-Tehran forces in the Middle East, including Hamas, to target Israel and Western countries.
