Britain’s sanction targeting settlements in the West Bank have been greeted in Iranian state media as a step towards “the end of Israel”.
The announcement yesterday by foreign secretary Ed Miliband of a raft of measures has been broadcast repeatedly by Islamic Republic propaganda outlets.
Iranian broadcasters claimed years of activity by regime-backed “resistance groups” have succeeded in persuading the “naïve UK government” to take action against Israel.
The reports quote Miliband as branding the settlers as “terrorists” supported by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and accusing them of “committing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank”.
Iran Radio accused the foreign secretary of “plagiarism”, saying credit for branding “Israeli occupiers” as terrorists should go to the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
The sanctions were hailed on the broadcaster in a report that said: “Ultimately, European countries, including Britain, have come to the conclusion that Israel has no future and that, as our martyred leader said, Israel will not survive the next two decades.
“Many political observers believe this is the beginning of the end of Israel – an end that Imam Khomeini also predicted.”
The radio station said the British decision is vindication of Tehran’s long-standing strategy of backing its network of regional proxies and allies, arguing that, despite the heavy consequences Iran has suffered, the Islamic Republic “should continue its support for the groups and allied networks”.
Iranian state news agencies are also portraying the British move as a potential game-changer in Israeli domestic politics, claiming it could contribute to the “toppling of Netanyahu’s government” as Israel goes to the polls on October 27.
The upcoming election has become a key talking point among Iranian officials.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei claimed that continuing the war against the Islamic Republic was “existential” for the “Zionist regime”, and that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed the conflict to influence the outcome of the election and stay on in office.
Baghaei said: “It is existential for the Zionist regime and Netanyahu to continue the war, as they need it to shift the outcome of the election.”
He claimed the Israeli prime minister could only stay on by “showing the Zionist people that he is trying to protect them by waging war against our Islamic nation”.
Other senior Iranian regime figures are framing the general election within Tehran’s conflict with Israel.
Veteran Iranian diplomat and former ambassador to Iraq Hassan Kazemi Qomi has said that Israeli and American military action against the Islamic Republic is partly driven by domestic electoral considerations.
He claims that both Netanyahu and US Republicans – ahead of America’s mid-term elections in November – are hoping to benefit politically from continued confrontation with Iran.
He said: “The current war against the Islamic Republic of Iran has direct consequences for the outcome of elections in America and the Zionist regime.”
Raising the possibility of Iranian military action against Israel or attacks by proxy militia groups ahead of the October 27 election, Kazemi Qomi suggested that the so-called “Axis of Resistance” could help bring about Netanyahu’s defeat with enough military pressure.
He added that he hoped what Tehran calls the “imposed war” against the regime would result in electoral defeat for the policies of both Washington and Israel.
His remarks come amid an increasingly open debate by senior figures within the regime about a potential change in Iran’s military doctrine.
IRGC commander Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf have spoken publicly about a “change of strategy”, including the possibility of pre-emptive attacks against Israel.
Iranian officials have meanwhile shown diminishing enthusiasm for negotiations, as the regime continues to claim responsibility for attacks on targets in the region it identifies as belonging to the US.
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