IRGC Claims Israel Urged Iran for 'Lite' Attack on April 13

"Iran threatens today to destroy Israel if Israel fully responds to Hezbollah attacks from Lebanon," Katz said in a post on his X account on Saturday. “My response to Iran is clear: A regime that threatens destruction deserves to be destroyed."

Katz's comments came in response to Iran's mission to the United Nations which warned that any “full-scale military aggression” by Israel in Lebanon against Hezbollah would trigger an "obliterating war."

The Israeli top diplomat also made it clear that if Hezbollah does not cease its attacks from Lebanon, Israel will retaliate with full force.

"If Hezbollah does not cease its fire and withdraw from southern Lebanon, we will act against it with full force until security is restored and residents can return to their homes,” Katz said.

The situation has been tense along the Lebanese border following a series of attacks by Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) retaliated by targeting several Hezbollah positions after the group launched attacks on northern Israel.

The confrontation is part of a broader conflict involving Iran’s “Axis of Resistance," which includes not only Hezbollah but also Hamas, Yemen’s Houthis, and other groups in Syria and Iraq.

The axis has actively targeted Israel since October 7, when Hamas-led fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, sparking the ongoing war in Gaza.

Iran itself launched missile and drone strikes on Israel on April 13, following an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus that killed several senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Although Iran’s strike was largely repelled with the help of the United States and other allies, it marked a new level of escalation in the region.

Based on official tallies, significant drops in voter engagement were recorded in Tehran (capital city) and in Kordestan and Kermanshah provinces, all of which were epicenters of recent anti-government protests, as well as in restive Sistan-Baluchestan province, which saw a dramatic 23-percent decrease in turnout.

The nationwide protests, ignited by the death in custody of Kurdish Mahsa Amini, saw Kordestan (Kurdistan) among the first to rise up against the clerical rulers.

In the presidential vote, Kermanshah recorded a mere 19.5 percent participation rate, 28.8 percent less than the 2021 turnout. Greater Tehran and Kordestan also recorded a 23-percent turnout, down from 26 percent and 37.4 percent respectively in 2021.

These regions, at the forefront of protests, reflect citizens’ frustration over systemic corruption, economic hardships, repression and lack of political freedoms.

Voter turnout In Sistan-Baluchestan in southeastern Iran nosedived from 62.8 percent in 2021 to just 40 percent in 2024. This marginalized and underrepresented region faces severe socio-economic challenges and repression.

During Bloody Friday on September 30, 2022, security forces killed around 100 protesters and injured hundreds more. The government has repressed the weekly protests following Friday prayers, leading to the arrest of many Baluch Sunnis.

The northern provinces of Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan also saw significant decreases of 24.8, 18.5 and 19.4 percent, respectively, while Khuzestan's turnout dropped by 20.4 percent.

The only province that showed a minor increase was Qom, home to Iran's biggest Shia seminary, which saw a three-percent increase in turnout.

The June 28 presidential election marked the lowest voter turnout in the history of the Islamic Republic, with only 39.92 percent participation. This breaks the previous record set during the last election, in which the late President Ebrahim Raisi won with a turnout of 48 percent.

Activists and officials have highlighted that the low turnout is a clear sign of the public's discontent with the ruling autocracy, demonstrated through the widespread boycott of the election.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, who scored the lowest number of votes in the election, said on X, "Greetings to all of you who came to vote on June 29, and respect to all of you who did not believe us and did not come. Your presence and absence are full of messages that I hope will be heard. Your message is clear and unambiguous.”

"The resistance is so grand, beautiful, and captivating that its attractions have penetrated even into the universities of the US and into the cities of France, England, Germany, Spain, Australia, and everywhere," Hossein Salami said during a conference on "Resistance" in Mashhad on Saturday.

The "Resistance" generally refers to the Islamic Republic's ideology of fighting Israel and also the US through a coalition of Tehran-backed armed militant groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis in Yemen, and various Iraqi Shiite militias.

Salami's remarks specifically point to the recent campus protests in the US and Europe by thousands of students who established encampments on campuses to decry Israel's military actions against the Iran-supported Hamas in Gaza.

Enraged by the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, students across the US have been organizing pro-Palestinian rallies and sit-ins to pressure their institutions to disclose and divest from funds and corporations that do business with Israel.

Triggered by a Hamas attack on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 individuals, mostly civilians, Israel's subsequent military response reportedly led to the deaths of over 35,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas figures.

The protests in Western universities have been praised and politically leveraged by Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has repeatedly lauded the students' efforts as aligning with Iran's resistance against American and Israeli policies.

In a recent speech, Khamenei branded the campus protesters part of Iran's 'resistance front' against the US and Israel.

The campus protests across the US featured on the cover pages of many Iranian dailies, triggering a considerable backlash from ordinary Iranians who view the stunt as ‘glaringly hypocritical’ from a ruling system that suspends, beats and imprisons students for much less than what students have been doing in the US in the past ten days.

The Islamic Republic has always presented itself as the only true champion of Palestinians and their cause. This sentiment has become much stronger and prevalent since October 7 when Hamas, backed by Iran, rampaged border areas inside Israel.

The irony, as ordinary Iranians have been pointing out on social media, is hard to miss. It is a case of 'astounding hypocrisy', many say, of a regime who cheers on American students exercising their freedom of expression, while its prisons are humorously called ‘universities’ for hosting sheer numbers of students, graduates, and educators who have dared to speak their mind.

On February 5 a number of the outlet’s journalists were arrested during a raid by security agents at their office in Tehran’s Argentina Square.

Security forces locked down and detained all 30 staff inside the building for 14 hours, confiscating their mobile phones and laptops.

Fardaye Eghtesad’s deputy editor-in-chief, Behzad Bahmannejad, a video journalist, Nikan Khabazi, and Ali Tasnimi were arrested according to Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the raid and the arbitrary detention of Fardaye Eghtesad’s journalists urging Iran to “cease the practice of arbitrarily locking up members of the press.”

According to CPJ Bahmannejad, Asgari, Khabazi, and Tasnimi were detained for 4 days inside the outlet's newsroom. HRANA further reported the four journalists were transferred on February 9 to an undisclosed location.

On 21 February, the non-profit rights group Defense of the Free Flow of Information (DeFFI) reported that Bahmannejad and Asgari were released from Tehran’s Shahpoor Intelligence Detention Center while video journalists Tasnimi and Khabazi remained under temporary detention.

In a Saturday address, Khamenei described "the Defenders of the Holy Shrine" as young individuals from various nationalities who embody the Islamic Republic's worldview. The Islamic Republic authorities specifically use this term to refer to Tehran-backed militias deployed for more than a decade to fight for Syria's strongman Bashar al-Assad.

“The enemy intended to seize the region and simultaneously impose economic, political and ideological pressures on Iran to undermine the Islamic system when a group of devout youths, led by the Islamic Republic of Iran, foiled the arrogant powers’ plot,” Khamenei said in a meeting with the members of the International Congress of Martyrs of Resistance and Defenders of the Shrine.

In Iraq also, armed proxy forces established and supported by Iran are sometimes called defenders of the Shrine, perhaps referring to Islamic State attacks on Shiite holy sites.

Khamenei emphasized the significance of these groups portraying them as exemplars of Iran's strategic outlook and commitment to regional stability. In fact, these groups are used to pressure regional governments, secular forces, attacking Israel and US interests.

The involvement of Iranian forces in Syria, spearheaded by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force under Khamenei's direct command, commenced in response to the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad during the Arab Spring in 2011.

Initially positioned as support to prevent Assad's regime from collapsing under widespread protests, Iran's military intervention evolved into a sustained effort to bolster Damascus against opposition forces and extremist groups and also to enhance Tehran's strategic position for continued confrontation with Israel.

Iran’s intervention in Syria has drawn significant international criticism. Critics argue that Tehran’s support has prolonged the conflict, exacerbated regional instability, and contributed to substantial casualties and displacement. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in the conflict, with Iran, Russia and Assad forces using overwhelmingly destructive weapons against large cities such as Aleppo.

Moreover, the economic strain of maintaining military operations abroad has added to domestic discontent within Iran, particularly amidst ongoing economic challenges exacerbated by international sanctions.

A series of anti-government protests in Iran since 2017 have underscored public dissatisfaction with the government’s prioritization of regional military engagements over domestic economic needs. Demonstrators have voiced grievances against Iran’s extensive political and financial support for groups like Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, chanting slogans such as “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I’ll sacrifice my life for Iran.”

The latest presidential election in Iran, held amidst these tensions, saw voter turnout fall below 40%, signaling widespread disillusionment with the political establishment. Despite this, Khamenei did not mention voter participation in his speech, emphasizing the continuation of his strategic policies.

Additionally, despite Iran's substantial military and financial support to Syria, it appears that President Assad may be undermining Iranian interests, suggesting that his priorities lie elsewhere. Syria’s recent decision to re-engage with the Arab League after years of diplomatic estrangement has sparked concerns in Iran about diminishing influence over Assad’s regime.

Syria’s alignment with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on regional issues, including the UAE’s dispute with Iran over three strategically located islands in the Persian Gulf, has underscored regional shifts potentially detrimental to Iranian interests.