Masoud Pezeshkian, the “moderate” and “reformist” candidate who won a surprising victory in Friday’s special election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, on Tuesday declared his unwavering support for the regime’s terrorism against Israel and its Western allies.
Pezeshkian made his anti-Israel remarks to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who called to congratulate him on his victory in the election. Sudani told Pezeshkian he hoped to develop more “bilateral, regional, and international cooperation with Tehran” under the new administration, as Iran’s state-run Tasnim News put it.
Pezeshkian, in turn, commended the Iraqi government for its “wise and dignified” stance against Israel, which he accused of “crimes against the people of Gaza” during its military operation against the terrorists of Hamas.
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Joel PollakPezeshkian touched base with Iran’s terrorist proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon on Monday, congratulating its murderous leader, Hassan Nasrallah, for his missile attacks against Israel.
“The Islamic Republic has always supported the resistance of the people of the region against the illegitimate Zionist regime,” Iran’s new “moderate” president told the Hezbollah kingpin.
“I am certain that the resistance movements in the region will not allow this regime to continue its warmongering and criminal policies against the oppressed people of Palestine and other nations of the region,” he said.
Pezeshkian promised that Iran’s financial and military support for Hezbollah is “rooted in the fundamental policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “will continue with strength.”
A Hezbollah missile attack on Israel injured two civilians on Sunday, one of them a U.S. citizen. The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem said the American citizen, who is listed in serious condition at Galilee Medical Center, was not a U.S. government employee.
The Israeli government has not said much about Pezeshkian’s election yet, but Israeli media were not surprised that he would pledge to continue Iran’s support for terrorism and proxy warfare against Israel.
The Jerusalem Post noted on Sunday that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the theocratic wing of the Iranian military and a designated terrorist organization, is much too powerful for Pezeshkian to change Iran’s policy of supporting international terrorism, even if the new Iranian president wanted to:
The kinds of threats that Iran exports, such as moving missiles and drones to its allies in the region and also moving technological know-how will not change. In addition, groups like Hezbollah are so powerful now that they don’t need Iran’s backing as much as in the past.
The Jerusalem Post feared the great danger posed by Pezeshkian is that certain Western leaders might fall for his “moderate reformist” act and resume tossing bouquets of cash at Tehran in a bid to restart the failed 2015 nuclear deal.
“When Iran plays both sides, it caters to a naïve view in the West that the Iranian regime can be reasoned with,” the editors noted. “In fact, the regime has brought chaos and destabilization to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and other countries. It has backed the Hamas war on Israel and is trying to flood the West Bank with weapons.”
