The international press over the last week widely covered the inauguration of Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s new president. Raisi, whose role in executing thousands of political prisoners earned him the nickname “The Butcher of Tehran,” was sworn in on Thursday following an election that saw a record-low voter turnout.
Since he assumed office, English-language news outlets like CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News, and The Los Angeles Times published 27 articles about Raisi, often describing him as a “hardliner.”
Yet none of these outlets reported what Iran’s new president did on his first full day in office: he hosted representatives of at least four internationally recognized terror groups and offered the Islamic Republic’s continued support in their ongoing battle to annihilate the Jewish state.
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Among the prominent terror leaders spotted in Tehran were Hezbollah’s Naim Qassem, Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh and Ziyad al-Nakhalah, secretary-general of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Representatives of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
The arch-terrorists were given what appeared to be front-row seats — right in front of senior European Union official Enrique Mora, who ignored calls from Israel and some European parliamentarians (see here and here) to boycott the function honoring the US-sanctioned Iranian politician.
The head of #Hamas‘ Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh and #Hezbollah‘s Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem are seated right in front of the Deputy Secretary General of the EU’s External Action Service at Raisi’s inauguration in #Iran. Can’t make it up. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/Fd01GcDC62
— Jason Brodsky (@JasonMBrodsky) August 5, 2021
Subsequently, the newly minted president granted all terror groups a private audience, in which he reportedly stressed that Iran would “continue to support Palestine as the main issue of the Muslim world.”
Raisi’s office confirmed the meetings on Friday through his official English-language website (see here, here, here and here), as did the semi-official Fars News Agency a day later. Moreover, the terror groups in question put out statements about their rendezvous with the Iranian leader (see for example here and here).
Nevertheless, none of the major news outlets picked up on the story. Unfortunately, this media silence is par for the course since Raisi came out on top in an election that was described as neither free nor fair by the United States.
Related Reading: Glaring Omission: Media Mute on Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad Links to Iran
Shortly after the June 18 presidential poll, congratulatory messages poured in from terror organizations across the Middle East. “Your victory has renewed the hopes of the Iranian people and the people of the region who see you as a shield and a strong supporter… for the resistance against aggressors,” Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, told Raisi. The Iranian-backed militia fired 19 rockets at Israel on Friday, its heaviest barrage since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
Hamas — which receives millions from Tehran — on June 19 said it looked forward to “continuing and strengthening […] Iran’s support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people,” while PIJ — a wholly-owned Iranian subsidiary — called Raisi’s win a “great achievement.” As Jason M. Brodsky put it in Haaretz on Sunday: “Raisi is not only the president of the Islamic Republic, but he is also a budding leader of its Axis of Resistance [alliance of Iranian-backed terror groups].”
However, in the three days that followed Raisi’s election, a mere five out of 170 articles published about the election mentioned Tehran’s support for Hezbollah, Hamas and other terror groups sowing havoc in the region. This, despite reports in local media that Iran and Gaza-based terror groups set up a joint war room during the last 11-day conflict between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas in May this year.
Under Raisi, who has been touted as a possible successor of Iran’s current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, Tehran’s support for regional terror proxies will presumably only grow. Yet, despite Raisi’s well-documented relationship with the self-declared “Axis of Resistance,” as illustrated by their prominent appearance during his swearing-in, most media outlets remain suspiciously silent.
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