The top military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader praised him as the mastermind behind the April 13 air attack on Israel, while Tehran tries to convince the world that the president-elect will bring a new foreign policy approach.
“The Supreme Leader decided on this operation that was unprecedented in the 78-year history of the Zionist regime. No leader or country had ever dared to do so; launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel is no joke,” General Yahya Rahim Safavi said on Thursday.
Described as "Operation True Promise" by Tehran, the air strike employing over 350 drones and missiles marked Iran's first direct assault on Israeli territory. According to the Israeli military, 99% of the projectiles were intercepted with the assistance of a coalition led by the US.
The raid was a response to what Iran said was an Israeli attack on its consulate in Damascus, which resulted in the death of seven officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including a senior commander.
Observers noted that the successful interception of the missiles and drones represented a significant defensive victory for Israel, casting doubt on Iran's aggressive tactics.
Despite this, Iranian officials continue to depict the attack as a military success, leveraging state media and public statements to emphasize their military capabilities and project power against adversaries as the shadow war with Iran’s archenemy reached a historic climax.
In fact, Safavi's claim that Iran's attack represented an unprecedented operation, armies of three Arab countries launched a massive land and air assault on Israel in October 1973, involving hundreds of thousands of troops and close to 1,000 warplanes.
On Tuesday, Iran's Acting Foreign Minister, Ali Bagheri-Kani, commended the purported new foreign policy direction under President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian while resolutely defending Tehran's support for regional proxy groups.
Iranian authorities remain unwilling to retreat from the cornerstones of their current foreign policy—namely, funding and supporting militia groups, advancing the nuclear program, and antagonizing Israel—while simultaneously attempting to present Pezeshkian as embodying a new approach.
Thus far, the incoming president has pledged to adhere to the strategies and objectives outlined by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, who has consistently advocated defiance against the West.
Pezeshkian's actions have been in alignment with this directive. One of his first diplomatic moves being his public endorsement of Iran’s proxy militias, seen as a clear demonstration of his political allegiance. Nonetheless, some Western media continue to portray him as different from other Islamic Republic officials.
On Tuesday, The New York Times published a report claiming that Pezeshkian "has portrayed himself as a modern leader for a new era," thereby depicting him in a more progressive light despite his actions.
In an op-ed in the Tehran Times meanwhile, Pezeshkian stated his commitment to Khamenei's "Look to the East" policy, emphasizing reliance on fellow pariah states, Russia and China, as Iran's main partners.
However, the NYT article focused on him being "open" to relations with the rest of the world and failed to mention his unwavering stance against Israel, which has drawn significant opposition from Western countries. Nor did it address his continued support for militia groups that destabilize the region.