Iran’s parliament voted on a mandate to destroy the state of Israel Sunday, the anniversary of Qassem Soleimani’s assassination.
The mandate aims “to destroy the usurping Zionist regime” and “[break] the siege of Gaza by sending basic goods from official naval bases to Gaza in exchange for money or free of charge.”
Upon passage of the mandate into law, the Iranian regime will be obligated to pursue the “Right of return of Palestinian refugees” and the “Liberation of the Golan Heights” by providing “welfare-economic-security and infrastructures.”
The mandate also designates the U.S. killing of Qassem Soleimani as a “terrorist act” that warrants the “execution of severe revenge by expelling the United States from the region and reciprocal measures to weaken the United States.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously referred to Israel as a “deadly, cancerous tumor in the region” that must be “uprooted and destroyed.”
Iran openly bolsters terrorist groups in Gaza including Hamas and Hezbollah by supplying millions of dollars annually in financial and military support.
In May 2020, Khamenei confirmed this weapons transfer.
“Iran realized Palestinian fighters’ only problem was lack of access to weapons. With divine guidance and assistance, we planned, and the balance of power has been transformed in Palestine, and today the Gaza Strip can stand against the aggression of the Zionist enemy and defeat it,” said Khamenei.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the May threat by stating that Israel will have the right to defend itself.
“Those that invoke the threat of destruction against Israel put themselves in similar danger,” he said.
In December 2020, Israel deployed a submarine to the Persian Gulf as an apparent signal to Iran that Israel is prepared to protect itself and its regional assets.
