Islamic Republic’s Autumn of Virulent Antisemitism

Iranwire – In the autumn of 2024, officials of the Islamic Republic intensified their campaign of antisemitism through speeches and public statements. Through conspiracy theories, historical distortions, and direct religious attacks on Judaism, they openly endorsed antisemitism, blaming a “satanic enemy” for every regional crisis. 

These statements, which range from claims that Jews seek global hegemony to accusations of attempting to destroy Islamic identity, reveal a policy aimed at diverting public attention from domestic issues and regional crises.

The falsification of history, particularly regarding the Holocaust, has become a central feature of this antisemitic rhetoric. Not only are Jews collectively portrayed as the root of global problems, but the relationship between Judaism and Zionism is redefined through historical distortion. Such remarks by Islamic Republic officials go beyond politics, stoking ethnic and religious enmity. They aim to gain domestic and regional legitimacy through systematic hate-mongering.

A prominent example of this incitement came from Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy head of Khatam-al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, Iran’s largest infrastructure contractor company owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). On November 10, 2024, during a live TV broadcast, he referred to Jews as “villains” and equated Judaism with Zionism. “Where are the Jews who are supposed to oppose Zionism? Why don’t they step forward and save the world from this cancerous tumor?” he mocked, dismissing the existence of Jews who are not Zionists. 

“Enemy No. One”

A review of statements made by Islamic Republic officials over the past three months shows that they have increasingly labeled Israel, Jews, and the United States as primary instigators of regional and global crises. They seek to “otherize” and “demonize” Jews while promoting the need for a “culture of martyrdom” to fight against “global hegemony by the Jews.”

Abdollah Haji Sadeghi, the Supreme Leader’s representative at the IRGC, called the enemies of the Islamic Republic, such as Israel, “godless” on October 21, 2024. In his speech, he linked them to “Satan,” adding that they are not monotheistic but pretenders to religious belief. In another speech, he claimed that the Islamic Revolution, with its religious mission and nature, has two main pillars: The sovereignty of God and the fight against “global arrogance,” a term used by Islamic Republic officials to describe the cultural and economic influence of the United States over other countries. He also praised “holy warriors” fighting for the sovereignty of God against the Islamic Republic, especially those who are martyred, calling them the “chosen people.”

Ghadir Nezami, chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council’s Political, Defense, and Security Committee, echoed these sentiments in an October 30, 2024 speech. He accused “Jews of believing in tampered holy books to justify enslaving or killing non-Jews.” He declared that the “enemies” cannot defeat the Islamic Revolution as long as the “culture of martyrdom” dominates Iranian society and people believe in the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, the founding principle of the Islamic Republic, which gives the Supreme Leader, currently Ayatollah Khamenei, the final word in state affairs. He also claimed that the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists was part of Israel’s conspiracy to achieve “nuclear dominance” and added that Israel aimed to create a “corridor” spanning from India to Europe, connecting countries whose economies are controlled by Israel. However, according to him, the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel disrupted Israel’s plan.

Heydar Bordbar, a political deputy commander of Imam Sadegh Provincial Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Persian Gulf port city of Bushehr, declared Jews and Israel as “Enemy Number One” on November 7, accusing them of “plotting to fragment Muslim nations for easier control.”

He claimed that the “Axis of Resistance,” an informal coalition of Iran, the former government of Syria under Bashar al-Assad, and Iran-backed militias and political organizations like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen, was formed to counter this alleged scheme. “It was after the Islamic Revolution that Iran sought to form the Axis of Resistance to counter the Axis of Evil (Israel and America), which was created against Muslims to deprive them of their character and their lands.”

Some officials of the Islamic Republic claim that regional events are orchestrated by the Jews and executed by the United States. “It doesn’t matter who becomes the president in America because the main decision-makers are the Jews,” said Seyed Mohammad Mehdi Hosseini Hamedani, Friday Prayers Leader of Karaj, during a speech on November 8, 2024. “The tactics may change, but the strategy remains the same. Therefore, our strategy must remain unchanged. As long as America remains America, our slogan will remain: ‘Death to America!’” 

Pezeshkian’s “Suspicious” Meeting with Jews

A significant incident that drew widespread attention from Persian-language newspapers and media was a meeting between Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Jewish-American professor Lior Sternfeld in September 2024. Pezeshkian, during his visit to New York, attended a session organized by Iran’s UN mission titled “Role of Divine Religions in Establishing World Peace” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. The meeting included several rabbis, Jewish anti-Zionist representatives, Muslims, and Christian delegates. During the session, Sternfeld presented Pezeshkian with a copy of his book, Between Iran and Zion: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran.

The meeting sparked sharp criticism from principalists and media outlets affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, who labeled it “suspicious” and “provocative.” In a September 24 article, Farhikhtegan newspaper claimed, “Sternfeld wants us to believe there are no tensions between Iranian-Israeli Jews living in the occupied territories and the Iranian people, implying they wish to reconnect with their homeland. Of course, he masks his true intentions under the guise of ‘human rights’ and ‘patriotism,’ but his real goal is to weaken Iran and its ties to the Axis of Resistance.”

Sternfeld later expressed his “surprise” upon receiving an official invitation from Iran’s mission to the UN. He informed them of his Israeli citizenship, yet they did not retract the invitation. However, Iran’s UN mission denied prior knowledge of his dual Israeli-American citizenship, claiming he was invited solely for his research on “Judaism, Islam and Iran.”

Critics of President Pezeshkian and his administration seized on the incident to embarrass both him and Iran’s UN mission. Regime supporters argued that Sternfeld’s Israeli citizenship could have been easily discovered. They even posted a picture, purportedly of the house in Rehovot, Israel, where Sternfeld grew up, along with his exact address and Israeli ID code. These opponents also emphasized that this marked the first instance of an Israeli Jew receiving an invitation signed by an Islamic Republic president.

Worshippers of the Golden Calf

Habibollah Shabani Movasseghi, Friday Prayers Leader of Hamedan, believes that Israel’s conduct is rooted in Jewish history. “Murdering God’s prophets” is a characteristic of some Israelites, he said on September 27, 2024: “In the Holy Quran, God highlights the history of certain Jews and Israelites who worshipped the Golden Calf, killed prophets from their own tribes, and rejected divine commandments.”

“Would a nation that kills God’s prophets have mercy on women and children?” he asked rhetorically. “Is it surprising that such a tribe is responsible for the murder of 41,000 women and children in Gaza today? How can you engage in logical dialogue with Zionists, given such a historical record?” 

Other clerics sought to characterize Jews as superstitious. “Jews have always been superstitious, embroidering religious commandments with absurd details,” said Seyed Reza Emadi, a seminary teacher and university professor, in a September 23 interview. “The Quran describes their tendency in Al-Baqarah that they either embroider religious laws or come up with excuses [to avoid obeying them].” When God commanded them to sacrifice a cow, they asked, ‘What color? What age?’… Prophet Mohammad taught that ‘Islam is a simple religion,’ but the Jews refused to embrace simplicity and continued embellishing religious commandments.”

Some military officials joined the sentiments, describing Jews as murderers. General Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of the IRGC-affiliated Basij paramilitary organization, said in a speech on September 29, “Today, we witness that the West, having benefited from centuries of human progress, has reached remarkable scientific achievements. Yet, instead of upholding humanity’s obligations, it provides these advancements exclusively to certain groups, especially the Jews, to dominate other nations.” 

Old Antisemitic Tropes — Continued

Throughout the autumn of 2024, officials of the Islamic Republic persisted in invoking old antisemitic tropes.

“The Jews, helped by the Baha’is, spent more than 90 years plotting against Iran, but the Leader of the Revolution foiled their plan with just one sentence,” declared Lotfollah Dezhkam, the Supreme Leader’s representative in Fars province. He accused these two religious minorities of consistently acting as agents for foreign powers. 

In addition to such claims, Holocaust denial remained a recurring theme in official rhetoric during the autumn months. 

“The fabricated history of the Holocaust and the Zionists’ victim-playing has lost credibility after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for war crimes,” said Hossein Kanani, an international affairs analyst, following the ICC’s November 21 arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. He omitted that the ICC had also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander, a key ally of the Islamic Republic within the so-called “Axis of Resistance.” 

“The Zionist regime rests on two pillars,” asserted Ahmad Vaezi, head of the Office of Islamic Propaganda at Qom Seminary, on October 28 during a gathering called “Hezbollah Lives On.” “The first pillar is playing the victim. By promoting the big lie of the Holocaust, the Zionist movement has disguised a wolf as a lamb, presenting the creation of Israel as the rightful cause of a victimized nation.” 

Vaezi identified the second pillar as Israel’s efforts to attract Jews to the state. “Through self-sacrifice and martyrdom, the Axis of Resistance has shaken the foundations of both pillars, revealing that this supposed lamb, this so-called victim of systematic injustice, is in reality a bloodthirsty monster, unbound by any law and responsible for a new Holocaust.”

During the three months of the 2024 autumn, Iranian media also amplified this rhetoric, publishing articles condemning European nations, particularly Germany, for their support of Israel during the Gaza war. These articles frequently ignored historical facts and twisted logic. For instance, one piece, titled “From Auschwitz to Gaza: Germany Is Always Involved,” employed emotional language to describe Germany as Israel’s “accomplice in killing Muslims.” “It seems that Germany not only is not trying to atone for its historical crimes against human rights, but it is also following its usual path, this time by cooperating with Zionist Jews against Palestinian Muslims.” Notably, the author ignored the Islamic Republic’s frequent Holocaust denial and rejection of the Nazi genocide of millions of Jews, including at Auschwitz.

Similarly, in a speech on November 4, Ayatollah Mohammadi Golpayegani, head of the Office of Supreme Leader, compared Israeli Jews to Hitler. “The Jews are destroying the agricultural lands of Palestinian people. They have exonerated Hitler in their crimes, killing 10,000 children,” he claimed. According to Golpayegani, Jews aspire to be the master of Muslims, asserting, “As the Quran says, the Jewry will never be happy with you unless you become their subjects.”

“Zionism and Judaism Are Not Different”

In the past, some Islamic Republic officials drew a distinction between Judaism and Zionism in their statements. However, in the autumn of 2024, many dispensed with this distinction and equated the two in their rhetoric.

One example was Ahmad Alamolhoda, the Friday Prayers Leader in the holy city of Mashhad. “Our first difference with the enemy is that we have God, and the enemy is godless,” he declared during his sermon on October 4. “Secondly, our Jewish enemy is a coward, but we love martyrdom and welcome it.”

Mohammad Mokhtary, the interim Friday Prayers Leader of Birjand, a city in South Khorasan province, echoed this sentiment on October 18. “With their belligerent characters, the Jews build a bridge to dominate Islamic countries. For 75 years, they have massacred the oppressed Palestinian people and driven them from their homeland. This is why they assassinated Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, in Tehran, martyred Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary-general of Hezbollah, and recently killed Yahya Sinwar, the successor to Haniyeh,” he said. 

On October 15, General Ali Fadavi, deputy commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), expressed his beliefs with an expression of bravado, asserting that all Israelis are Zionists. “The occupied territories are not as big as one of the small provinces of Iran, and if we decide, we can wipe out all Zionists,” he told reporters.