Iran’s War, and Ours, From Gaza to Caracas

The Islamic Jihad spokesman knew what he was talking about.  His own terror organization is part of the Iranian proxy army that includes Hezbollah and, with some ups and downs, Hamas.  Islamic Jihad is very much in that network, and undoubtedly worked alongside Hamas in the recent Gaza fighting.  If you have any doubts, Iranian leaders — especially at high levels of the Revolutionary Guard Corps — have bragged about their role in the Gaza war, one of the most reliable Israeli think tanks has written about it at length, and Congressman Ed Royce, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, confirmed it.

Moreover, as the region becomes more tumultuous, the Iranians have taken a big step:  they have sent their own fighters and commanders into battle in Iraq and Syria.  Lots of them have beeninjured or killed.  I have been told by usually well-informed Iranians outside the country that there have been several demonstrations against the regime’s strategy (this is not a “Sunni vs Shiite” thing;  Iranians generally do not love the Arabs, and don’t want their men sacrificed for an Arab “cause” of whatever doctrinal convictions).

Iranian commanders are bragging, but Gaza can’t have done much for the domestic popularity of the Iranian regime.  Like most of human life, political support is all about winning and losing, and Hamas quite clearly lost to Israel.  Therefore, the regime is in bed with losers, and all that bragging and chest-pounding can’t conceal the facts.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani know this, and they are keenly aware of the hostility of the Iranian people.  You don’t need public opinion polls to prove this.  Just look at the behavior of the regime.  It’s been about a year since Rouhani became president.  In that time, the regime has executed more than a thousand people, making Iran the worldwide #1 killer of its own people.  If Khamenei and Rouhani were confident of popular support, they wouldn’t be arresting, torturing and killing so many Iranians.

There is a second indicator.  On that death list, two names are notably missing:  opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.  Both are under “house arrest,” but the regime hasn’t dared to put them on trial, fearing uncontrollable protests.

And there is a third element:  even the pathetic pretense of press freedom hinted at by Rouhani and his claque has now been crushed.

Finally, the editor of one of the best Iranian human-rights groups was just found dead in Turkey, and it looks suspiciously like a regime assassination.