In an unusual twist, Iranians were filmed chanting “Death to Palestine” in protests in the southern Iranian city of Sirjan in recent days, the Jerusalem Post reported on Wednesday.
“Iranian people in Sirjan chanting: Death to Palestine! It shows the absurd ideology of the theocratic regime & terrorist Shia mullahs in Tehran which supports the #Terrorists against Israel! Iranian people are supporting #Peace & have no problem with #Israel or the #USA at all,” Erfan Fard, a counter-terrorism expert focused on Iran, tweeted.
Iranian-American journalist, Karmel Melamed, said the video was likely an old one, but added it “still accurately portrays the sentiments of many people in Iran today.”
According to Israeli analyst Meir Javedanfar, who grew up in Iran, the chants expressed people’s dissatisfaction with the Iranian leadership’s “expensive and unpopular anti-Israel policies, which have isolated Iran and its economy.”
Javendanfar further added turning on the Palestinians automatically undermined the ruling regime, given its vocal support of the Palestinian cause.
Ellie Cohanim, the first Iranian-born official working for the State Department, said that the “Death to Palestine” chant showed how “sick and tired” the average Iranian is of the regime’s practice of abusing resources to “fund terror proxies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.”
Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who fled the country, told the Jerusalem Post the Iranian regime forces many people to participate in the annual al-Quds marches that call for Israel’s destruction.
“I believe it’s very important to know that the people you see in the pictures are not there because of al-Quds day, they’re just there because many of them have no other choice. Believe me, there will be no al-Quds demonstration in Iran if these people were not under pressure, “ she said.
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