Iran International
An official from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office has tried damage control following remarks by a female hardliner, which risk alienating even regime supporters.
“This country belongs to Hezbollahis,” said Mansooreh Masoumi-Asl, an aspiring politician with close ties to the ultra-hardliner Paydari Party on live TV on Saturday. The context clearly indicated that she was demanding the total exclusion of all but her own party from the media and politics including other hardliners and conservatives.
Mehdi Fazaeil, a member of Khamenei’s office who has been responsible for publishing his writings for several years, responded to Masoumi-Asl by quoting Khamenei’s remarks about the revolution and those who “own” it.
“The Leader of the Revolution: This is a divine revolution, and its pillars are the people… No one, no group, can and should lay claim to owning this revolution …This revolution is owned by the people,” is a quote from a Khamenei speech in June 2008 that Fazaeli posted on X Monday evening read.
However, Khamenei had also said in a speech that the country belongs to hezbollahis, which seems to have been the inspiration for Masoumi-Asl’s statement two days ago.
“This country is the country of hezbollahis, and its future will be built by these hezbollahis and revolutionary and pious forces. Whenever a problem occurs, they should come and solve it. God willing, this will be the case,” Khamenei had said in September 1995.
The term "Hezbollah," originally employed to denote the Islamic Republic's revolutionaries in their struggle against perceived evil forces, has never held official political party status. In common usage, "hezbollahi" has evolved to describe fervent supporters of the regime and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Hezbollah and hezbollahi (belonging to Hezbollah) became part of the political jargon in 1979, when Islamist revolutionaries described themselves as hezbollahi against the liberal who were soon excluded from the government.
Masoumi-Asl, who is very active on social media and is often invited by the state broadcaster (IRIB) to comment on an array of topics, is a member of the central council of the Paydari-affiliated Strategic Network of Islamic Revolution’s Helper (SHARIAN). The group held its first general meeting in early March.
Iranian media say the group which includes many officials of President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration, as well as deputy parliament speaker Mojtaba Zolnour, seeks to oust the incumbent speaker of the parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf and his supporters in the upcoming March elections, and to take full control of the parliament.
The group’s activities have caused serious disputes between the Ghalibaf and the Raisi camps, Entekhab, a moderate conservative news website wrote Sunday.
“Our Iran is now at the center of a serious and dangerous development, and we witness a new episode of extremist behavior and deviations by hardliners. [They believe] whoever thinks differently should collect their things and get out [of the political scene],” Mostafa Faghihi, Entekhab’s chief editor, warned in a series of tweets.
Vahid Ashtari, an independent hardliner whistle-blower, tweeted that there are many theoreticians behind the phrase, ‘The country belongs to hezbollahis’ and several billions have been spent to promote this view. Many in power share this view, he said.
Ashtari who is an ardent supporter of the Islamic Republic but critical of most of the ruling cast and their corruption, also emphasized that limiting the criticism to Masoumi-Asl was “reducing the importance of the matter”.
“She will soon be given a good position [in the government] or become a lawmaker … She will mature a little bit and learn like others that she doesn’t have to say out loud everything that she believes in,” Ashtari wrote.
“Don’t mislead the people if you know where the roots of such a belief are and how it has affected policymaking, the money that has been spent, and the consequences it has had and tell the truth about this issue,” he added.
Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper his country's war effort, but pausing fighting for humanitarian reasons, an idea supported by Israel's top ally the United States, would continue to be considered based on circumstances.
"As far as tactical little pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we've had them before. I suppose we'll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave," Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a social media post on his personal account said that the United States has been suggesting humanitarian pauses in the fighting but accused Washington of duplicity. Tehran has been focusing its rhetoric against the United States in recent days, but so far has chosen not to get directly involved in the conflict.
However, Iran’s proxy forces in Iraq and Syria continue to target US military bases, with injuries among servicemen increasing. So far, the Biden administration has responded in kind only once, despite repeated warnings to Tehran and its militant allies.
Having encircled densely populated Gaza City in the north of the enclave, where the Hamas Islamist group is based, Israel's military said it had taken a militant compound and was set to attack fighters hiding in a warren of underground tunnels.
Israel has bombarded the enclave since the Hamas raid on southern Israel one month ago, when its fighters killed 1,400 people and seized 240 hostages.
Gaza health officials say the Israeli assault has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including some 4,100 children, but these figures cannot be independently verified.
Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed mounting calls for a halt in fighting. Israel says hostages should be released first. Hamas says it will not free them nor stop fighting while Gaza is under attack.
"But I don't think there's going to be a general ceasefire."
US President Joe Biden discussed such pauses and possible hostage releases in a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating his support for Israel while emphasizing that it must protect civilians, the White House said.
Like Israel, the US fears Hamas would take advantage of a full ceasefire to regroup.
International organizations have said hospitals cannot cope with the wounded and food and clean water are running out with aid deliveries nowhere near enough.
"We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It's been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now," said a statement from the heads of several United Nations' bodies on Monday.
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it took control of a Hamas military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, where it said the forces located anti-tank missiles and launchers, weapons and various intelligence materials.
Israeli aircraft struck several Hamas militants who had barricaded themselves in a building near the al-Quds Hospital and planned to launch an attack on Israeli forces, it said.
The Israeli military on Monday released video of tanks moving through bombed-out streets and groups of troops moving on foot. It says it has surrounded Gaza City, cutting off northern parts of the narrow coastal strip from the south.
In a press briefing, chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said troops were hunting Hamas field level commanders to weaken the militants' ability "to carry out counter attacks."
The UN Security Council met behind closed doors on Monday. The 15-member body is still trying to agree a resolution after failing four times in two weeks to act. Diplomats said a key obstacle is whether to call for a ceasefire, cessation of hostilities or humanitarian pauses to allow aid access in Gaza.
At a meeting of foreign ministers from the G7 leading democracies in Tokyo, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said the group plans to call for a pause in fighting and allowing humanitarian access to Gaza.
With reporting by Reuters