Iranian IRGC leaders bragged over the weekend about the increased strength of their proxies and the successes they believe they are having against the US and Israel.
Hossein Salami, the commander of the IRGC, and Ismail Qaani, the IRGC’s Quds Force commander, both made comments on Saturday that were reported in Iranian pro-regime media. The comments illustrate how Iran is positioning itself today in the region by seeking to support Palestinian attacks on Israel and also strengthening Hezbollah.
Qaani said that Iran is witnessing to a “decline of the Zionist regime in the region” and that the Iranian-backed proxies’ “axis of resistance has the upper hand over the Zionist regime.”
He then noted that Hezbollah had succeeded last year in threatening Israel and forcing a maritime agreement on Israel so that “Hezbollah was able to get its right to gas from the occupying regime of Jerusalem, and this would not have been possible without the resistance of Lebanon’s Hezbollah.”
This is important because reports last year claimed that the gas deal between Israel and Lebanon was going to benefit Lebanon. Iran is now admitting that the gas deal was primarily executed to benefit Hezbollah and that Iran’s hand was likely behind Hezbollah escalating tensions before the deal was made. The deal was made before Israel’s elections last year and since then Hezbollah threats have increased.
Supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah listen to him as he addresses them through a screen during a rally marking Muharram, a period of mourning for Shi’ite Muslims around the world, in Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon August 1, 2023. (credit: AZIZ TAHER/REUTERS)The IRGC Quds Force head also pointed to increased attacks on Israel. He didn’t say whether these were carried out by Iran’s proxy, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, however.
“Recently, 15 to 30 attacks are carried out daily in the West Bank by the resistance forces against the Zionist regime,” Qaani said, according to Tasnim news. Qaani also highlighted how the US had wasted investments in Iraq. This matters because Iran is closely watching recent developments in the West Bank, including the attack in Hawara on Saturday in which two people were murdered.
IRGC claims the US is declining in the region
Salami also discussed Iran’s success and the apparent decline of the US in the region. Salami characterized sanctions against Iran as a “Nile river of sanctions, threats, economic pressure, great editions, and psychological wars,” comparing the sanctions to the large river in Egypt.
He contrasted the “US decline” with the IRGC’s “bright, hopeful, inspiring, moving forward” position in the region.
“Today America is declining more than ever and the enemy is at the peak of weakness. If we take a look at the recent 45-year history, we will see that as we move forward, our enemies are getting weaker and we and the axis of resistance are getting stronger.”
Salami also claimed that Israel has become weaker in recent years, comparing Israel’s position today to 1967, asserting Israel was weaker than in 1967.
“Hezbollah has become stronger and its equipment and tools have become better and more up-to-date.” He also said that Iran’s current diplomatic offensive in the region, such as Iran’s foreign minister visiting Saudi Arabia, only works when combined with “power.”
The overall theme of the two statements by key IRGC leaders is a vision for Iran’s next moves. Iran wants to increase its support for Hezbollah and Palestinian terror groups. It believes that it can combine this with its diplomatic outreach to the Gulf.
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