ZIONISM IN THE AYATOLLAHS’ IRAN

The Islamic Republic of Iran has espoused an extreme anti-Zionist position, calling since its inception in 1979 for the elimination of the State of Israel as an illegitimate usurper entity. While denying it, Iran’s anti-Zionist rhetoric contains explicit anti-Semitic motifs and metaphors such as the blood libel and Holocaust denial. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, has proposed a plan to replace Israel with an Islamic Arab state and the departure of Zionist Jews to their ancestral homelands. In addition, Iran has provided generous military support to Islamist organizations such as Ḥizballah in Lebanon as well as the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad organizations to bleed Israel and force it to accept Iran’s “peace offer.”