Tuesday, April 14, 2026

04/13 Links Pt1: How Israel Derangement Syndrome blinds media to basic Mideast facts; The Amalekite Terrorist Iranian Regime: Why deterrence failed in Islamabad

From Ian:

NYPost Editorial: How Israel Derangement Syndrome blinds media to basic Mideast facts
Western media remain utterly incoherent ahead of Tuesday’s Israeli-Lebanese talks in Washington because their Israel Derangement Syndrome renders them unable to acknowledge basic facts.

For starters, the Jewish state is not at war with Lebanon, but with Hezbollah, the terror group that occupies the country’s south and until recently had the government bullied into complete submission.

It’s a war Hezbollah started — most recently, ending a cease-fire by launching missiles at Israel in revenge for Jerusalem’s assaults on Iran in conjunction with Operation Epic Fury.

Israel is in the process of evicting Hezbollah from Lebanon south of the Litani River — as per the accords that ended the 2006 war, though neither the weak government nor the less-than-worthless UN peacekeeping force lifted a finger to make it happen.

Yet most analyses pretend the current Israeli offensive is about something else entirely:

“Did Israel attack Lebanon to spoil Iran war ceasefire?” asked The Guardian last week.

“What is Israel’s war in Lebanon, and why could it shatter the Iran ceasefire?” blared CNN.

Not only was that (obviously) never the point, it was never even a risk: That cease-fire hasn’t even ended as the US Navy blockades the Strait of Hormuz, because Tehran doesn’t dare let the bombing resume.

Plus, the Iran cease-fire deal never included Lebanon, as President Donald Trump made plain last week; Hezbollah and its patrons in Tehran just tried to pretend it did.
Seth Mandel: Which Yemen? Which Lebanon? Which Palestinians?
Israel and Lebanon are engaged in direct talks to resolve the conflict caused by Hezbollah. Iran and the U.S. are negotiating over Iran’s nuclear program and control of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also, however, wants its talks with the U.S. to include Hezbollah’s fate in Lebanon. And yet no one seems to be struck by the obvious implications: Hezbollah is Iran, and Iran is demanding a degree of sovereignty for its own colony on someone else’s land.

Lebanon has a government. Nobody in the West disputes this. The Lebanese government, therefore, is the only one with a legitimate claim to negotiate over its own affairs of state. And yet somehow, Iran’s insistence that it also speaks for Lebanon because its illegal occupation forces remain on Lebanese territory hasn’t been laughed out of the room.

Iran plays this game of de-sovereignization all around the region, enabled at times by the West. But how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again now that the Islamic Republic has cracked up the Middle East? And does the West even have the desire to do so?

Lebanon is a pretty straightforward case compared to Iran’s other expansionist projects, and yet the West can’t even get this one right. For the past two and a half years, the region has been engulfed in the flames lit by Iran’s Palestinian client, Hamas. European leaders who recognized a “state of Palestine” did so precisely at the moment when Hamas emerged as the only Palestinian governing entity with control over its territory. The IDF has to undertake regular security sweeps in Ramallah, for example, just to ensure that Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas can enter one of the PA’s major West Bank towns.

“Recognition” was done to punish Israel rather than help Palestinians, which is why the only beneficiary was Hamas. Which means that even the countries that officially consider Abbas to be the only legitimate representative of the Palestinian polity have nonetheless boosted Hamas at the expense of the PA. Since Hamas is an extension of Iran, it is the criminal regime in Tehran that is being elevated as a voice of sovereignty on behalf of Palestinians. Iran is cannibalizing the dreamed-of “state of Palestine,” just as it has been doing to the actual, existing (for now) state of Lebanon.

One lesson of this, incidentally, is that any “state of Palestine” created at this moment would be created under Iranian occupation and would be divided from the start. Iran’s expulsion from future Palestinian territory, therefore, is a clear prerequisite for Palestinian self-determination.

Meanwhile: If Palestinian-governed enclaves are two not-yet-states, and Lebanon is in perpetual civil war between its government and Iran’s occupation forces, Yemen is a third kind of Iran-caused disaster. It is practically two states at the moment—though both are hanging by a thread.
No Deal, No Illusions By Abe Greenwald Via Commentary Newsletter, sign up here.
If Iran doesn’t cave to Trump’s maritime jiu-Jitsu—and it might not—it seems more likely than ever that the U.S. will start cratering known dual-use and underground infrastructure sites across Iran. This isn’t even close to a war crime. It’s a legitimate use of military power that we’ve witnessed many times, including in the Allies’ victory over the Axis Powers in World War II. Trump’s been reluctant to do it out of the reasonable hope that the U.S. could win with as little damage and as few Iranian deaths as possible. This hope is commendable, but the remnants of the Iranian regime are bent on extinguishing it.

Meanwhile, over the course of the war, our own anti-Trump politicians and media figures have tied themselves into knot after knot trying to explain the supposed mistakes, crimes, and miscalculations of the U.S. and Israel. They’ve all but bound themselves up in failed and contradictory arguments. We were losing; then the regime was losing but winning by existing. Trump was going to commit war crimes to destroy the regime; then he was chickening out with a cease-fire. Trump had no plan to open the Strait of Hormuz; now his plan to do so is too risky.

Congressman Ro Khanna has long been proffering my favorite brainteaser of the war. He claims simultaneously that the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei forbade the production of nuclear weapons and that Barack Obama’s deal with Iran had successfully prevented the regime from developing the nuclear weapons it sought. It’s no surprise that he’s now calling for Trump’s removal from office.

There’s not much else for the bad-faith critics to say.

Over the weekend, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman just came out and admitted that he was “torn” because, while he wanted to see the Iranian regime defeated, he didn’t want Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu to emerge victorious.

He’ll get over it.

The U.S. and Israel are not torn, neither as an alliance nor as individual fighting forces. They’re set on winning, the Iranian regime is cracking, and the antiwar crowd is cracking up.


The Amalekite Terrorist Iranian Regime: Why deterrence failed in Islamabad
There are no so-called root causes for the conflict that can be identified and solved. The Regime’s program calls for ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’, which are not vapid slogans, but religious imperatives. In this sense they are the modern purveyor of the ancient philosophy of Amalek.

As Ralbag, a medieval Biblical scholar points out, Amalek did not make war on the Jewish people to capture people or booty. It was a war of extermination (i.e., in modern terminology, a real genocide). Abarbanel, another medieval Biblical scholar, explains that there was no reason for Amalek to attack. They were not under attack or threatened by the Jewish people. It was also not a war of conquest. Indeed, the Jewish people hadn’t yet entered the Land of Israel. It was also not a fight face to face with a formal declaration of war. It was a sneak attack from behind against the weak stragglers.

Another medieval scholar, Rav Isaac Arama, echoes these points and pithily notes that Amalek’s dedicated and fanatical attack on the Jewish people was not for an ulterior motive; but rather for its own sake, to exterminate them. 12th century Maimonides, one of the foremost thinkers and Torah scholars, explains in his Guide for the Perplexed, it didn’t matter to Amalek that they were doing harm to themselves; nor did they even think about the harm they were doing.

The sordid debased philosophy of Amalek is eerily similar to that of the Iranian Regime. Even after losing its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, senior command, and key nuclear and missile infrastructure, the Regime was still insisting on the right to nuclear weapons, barred under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty it signed and to impose up to a $2million transit fee per vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, another clear violation of international law.

For 47 years, the Iranian Regime has built the state-sponsored terrorist infrastructure that enabled 9/11, October 7th, the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing and so many other murders, kidnappings and other atrocities. Neither the US nor Israel sought this confrontation. Instead, they showed restraint, with no full-scale invasion of Iran and repeated diplomatic efforts and off-ramps. However, as was the case with Amalek and those like the Regime who channel its evil philosophy; restraint is misinterpreted as weakness.

Iran today comprises approximately 93 million people, the vast majority of whom reportedly reject the Mullahs’ ideological goals and terrorist program, as well as the ongoing war with the US and Israel. Ethnic and religious minorities comprise about 40% of the population, including Kurds, Azerbaijanis, Baluchis, Arabs, Christians and Zoroastrians, who have suffered mightily under clerical rule. They do not seek an apocalyptic war with the US and Israel, who threaten them not at all. The good people of Iran see the Mullahs as nothing more than dictatorial suicidal occupiers.

The only path to a stable Middle East and a free Iran is regime change and rooting out the evil that is the terrorist Iranian Regime. By supporting the diverse, multi-ethnic internal opposition to the Mullahs, there is hope that the scaffolding holding up the Regime will collapse.

The entirely predictable failure of the peace talks in Islamabad has unmasked the Regime’s doctrinaire intransigence. The US and Israel must redouble their military and other efforts to precipitate a Regime collapse.

Let us hope that the good people of Iran disdain the Regime’s Amalekite philosophy and yearn to be free and productive partners in regional peace and prosperity. They would be welcome members in what promises to be the next iteration of the successful Abraham Accords.
Jonathan Tobin: Why they blame Netanyahu for antisemitism and the Iran war
Let’s be clear. Netanyahu hasn’t caused the post-Oct. 7 surge of antisemitism, any more than the actions of Israel or Jews have ever been responsible for the age-old scourge. Antisemitism is always about the antisemites; it’s an excuse used for targeting Jews. That’s true whether it is about them being rich or poor, assimilated or refusing to assimilate, being powerless and stateless, or because they now have a state of their own and a military to defend themselves. These are all just lame rationalizations for singling out Jews for prejudice and bias not applied to any other group.

If Americans on the left and on the right refuse to support an Israel that is still under siege from an international hate movement that thinks one Jewish state on the planet is one too many, it isn’t because Netanyahu is too tough in defending his country’s security and interests, or too persuasive when he speaks with Trump. It’s because they are ignorant of the truth about the history and ongoing conflict in the Middle East, have been manipulated by those who target Jews, or because they simply look for any reason to discriminate against Jews.

To say this is not to assert that Netanyahu is faultless or that Israel is perfect. Yet like every other nation in the world, it has the right to protect its borders and its citizens, and refuse to let jihadists and their enablers destroy them.

The demise of the bipartisan pro-Israel consensus wasn’t the result of Israeli behavior. It’s due to the capture of one of America’s two major parties by ideologues who are prejudiced against Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jews for a right to live in their homeland. The same thing is happening on what is, at least for now, the anti-Trump minority on the far right.

It is no small irony that the man who is arguably the best able to make Israel’s case to the English-speaking world is being demonized in this fashion. For some on the left, his sensible decision to stick as close as possible to the most pro-Israel president in history is indefensible since that means being friendly with the “bad orange man” they hate with a passion. For many other antisemites, on the right as well as intersectional leftists, it’s even simpler. They hate Netanyahu simply because he is the leader of the Jewish state.

In this way, like Israel itself, Netanyahu has become the stand-in for traditional antisemitic tropes about evil Jews. And nothing he does, whether wise or foolish, is likely to persuade those who embrace this symbolism.

That is unfortunate. But what is arguably even more disgraceful is the willingness of those who claim to disdain Jew-hatred and even support Israel’s existence to fall prey to such blood libels. In doing so, they aren’t so much harming Netanyahu as they are legitimizing the demonization of Israel and the Jews.
Six more Democratic senators file new war powers resolutions to stop conflict in Iran
A group of six additional Senate Democrats plan to file new war powers resolutions this week to halt the war in Iran, a move that would allow Democrats to continue forcing votes on the war for the foreseeable future.

Previously, a different group of six Democrats introduced similar resolutions, and Democrats have called up two of them thus far, with plans to call up a third this week. So far, the resolutions have all failed along mostly party lines, with all senators remaining consistent in their votes.

The latest group of lawmakers includes Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA) and Andy Kim (D-NJ).

The array of lawmakers involved in the latest effort spans from staunch progressives and critics of Israel to generally more pro-Israel members.

“President Trump chose to start a war knowing it was going to raise gas prices on Americans already struggling to get by,” Gillibrand said in a statement. “The president, and his party, just don’t care about anyone other than themselves. They lie, cheat and steal to enrich themselves and leave regular folks with the bill. It is long past time for Republicans in Congress to stand up and do their job.”

House Democrats also plan to call up a war powers resolution this week, which may pass given that some Democrats who previously opposed a war powers effort and a handful of Republicans have indicated they plan to change their votes.
US Navy starts clearing mines in Strait of Hormuz as ships begin to pass through
U.S. Central Command has begun a maritime operation to clear sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz as 34 ships passed through the strait, according to U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump stated that “34 ships went through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, which is by far the highest number since this foolish closure began.”

Two U.S. Navy destroyers—the USS Frank E. Peterson and the USS Michael Murphy—have already transited the strait and are operating in the Persian Gulf as part of the effort to “ensure the strait is fully clear of sea mines previously laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,” according to CENTCOM.

“Today, we began the process of establishing a new passage, and we will share this safe pathway with the maritime industry soon to encourage the free flow of commerce,” said CENTCOM Commander Adm. Brad Cooper.

The news comes as CENTCOM began its blockade on maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on Monday. The blockade “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports,” CENTCOM stated.


‘We must take our fate into our own hands,’ IDF chief tells troops ahead of Yom Hashoah
“The lessons of Jewish history teach that when our existence is threatened, we must take our fate into our own hands,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a letter to the military ahead of the Jewish state’s Holocaust and Heroism Day, which is observed from Monday evening into Tuesday.

“Today, on Holocaust and Heroism Day, we all gather and unite with the memory of the six million of our people who perished in the Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators,” Zamir wrote, addressing fellow commanders, soldiers and civilian employees of the IDF.

Yom Hashoah serves to commemorate “the communities that were erased from the face of the earth; the voices of the boys and girls, the men and women, the elderly and the young, who were led to the death pyres and shot in killing pits; and the partisans and underground fighters who struggled and rose up even when it seemed all hope was lost,” the chief of staff continued.

“From the ashes, the loss, and the devastation, a clear cry arose: to be a free people in our land. Holocaust survivors yearned for a state—they rose and built it with bare hands and with deep faith,” he said. “From the day of its establishment, the State of Israel has stood before a real existential threat.”

Zamir noted that on Oct. 7, 2023 , “our criminal enemies attacked the State of Israel and attempted to realize this threat,” murdering some 1,200 people, primarily civilians, in the deadliest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

“Since then, for more than two years, the IDF has been operating without pause in a fateful campaign to remove existential threats, significantly harm our enemies, and fortify security,” he wrote, saying that the acts of heroism seen during the multi-front War of Redemption “will be engraved in the history of the State of Israel.”

“We who wear the uniform of the IDF carry with us a legacy passed down from generation to generation—a legacy of a spirit that refuses to break, of a people that chose life and freedom even in its darkest hours. Now it is our turn to be a vital link in the chain of defenders who came before us; to stand guard over the homeland, to defend our home, and to ensure that the memory of the past will be our compass—Never Again,” Zamir concluded.


IDF seizes Lebanese stadium where Nasrallah threatened Jewish state in 2000
Israeli troops have taken operational control of a destroyed stadium in southeastern Lebanon where slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah once threatened the Jewish state, the military said on Monday, confirming a major raid in the Bint Jbeil area.

“Bint Jbeil in the year 2000. Someone stood here, in this field, and claimed that Israel is a cobweb filled with spiders that must be exterminated. Today, that man is gone, the compound is gone, and his words are worth nothing,” Brig. Gen. Guy Levy, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, said in a statement shared with reporters.

“Our troops have operational control of the area, dismantling terror infrastructure and eliminating dozens of terrorists,” the general said.

“Behind us are the residents of the north whom we protect; ahead of us are national days that remind us why we are fighting and for what we are fighting,” Levy added, in reference to Israel’s Remembrance and Independence days, which are this year marked on April 21 and 22, respectively.

“With us are the very best forces: people of courage, capability, determination and steadfast spirit,” he said.

Nasrallah was killed on Sept. 27, 2024, in an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah’s underground headquarters in the heart of Beirut’s southern district. Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed earlier on Monday that the Iranian-supported Hezbollah leader likely died of suffocation following the attack and had “a few minutes to think about how wrong he was in understanding the Jews—that we have changed.”

Levy’s remarks at the stadium where Nasrallah delivered his May 26, 2000, speech followed an IDF announcement that the 98th Division had carried out a targeted ground operation in Bint Jbeil over the past week.


Jewish Israelis, by large margin, support continued fighting Hezbollah; Arabs don’t
Four out of five Jewish Israelis think Israel should continue fighting the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon regardless of developments in the war against Iran, even if doing so results in friction with the United States, a survey found.

The Israel Democracy Institute poll, which was conducted April 9-12 and the results of which were published Monday, found a large gap between Jewish and Arab Israelis’ attitudes toward the fighting with Iran and its Lebanese proxy.

Among Jews, a full half said they were “certain” Israel should continue fighting Hezbollah. A further 30 percent said they thought it should, and only 11.5% said they thought or were certain it should not. The remaining 8.5% said they did not know.

Among Arabs, by contrast, just 19% of respondents said they thought or were certain Israel should keep fighting Hezbollah, while a majority (66%) said they thought or were certain it should not. The remaining 15% said they did not know.

Asked about the US-Iran ceasefire announced last week, only about a quarter (26%) of Jewish Israelis said they felt somewhat or very relieved when they heard about it, while 38% said they were either somewhat or very unhappy. A remaining 33.5% said they felt neither relieved nor unhappy, and 2.5% said they did not know.

Meanwhile, a majority (57%) of Arab Israelis said they felt very relieved, and a further 13% said they felt somewhat relieved. Only 12% said they felt somewhat or very unhappy, while 16% said they felt neither relieved nor unhappy, and 2% said they did not know.

Among Jews, the reaction differed somewhat by political orientation, with those further to the right being more likely to be unhappy, and less likely to be relieved.

Opinions also changed among Jews based on region of residence, with almost half (48%) of those in the north saying they were unhappy with the ceasefire, while only 29% of those who reside in West Bank settlements said the same.

Additionally, older Jews were found to be less unhappy with the ceasefire than younger Jews.
These are the 20 people killed in Israel by Iranian ballistic missile attacks
During the recent 40 days of fighting between the US and Israel against Iran, 20 Israeli civilians and foreign nationals were killed in Israel as the result of Iranian ballistic missile attacks.

These are their stories.

February 28, Tel Aviv
The first casualty in Israel of the war came on February 28, the first day of the fighting, when caregiver Mary Ann Velasquez De Vera, a citizen of the Philippines, was killed when an Iranian ballistic missile struck an apartment block in Tel Aviv.

She was “injured while selflessly assisting her patient to safety,” according to the Israeli Embassy in Manila. The woman she was caring for was rescued alive from the rubble.

De Vera, 32, first began working in Israel in 2019 for an elderly woman who lived in Beersheba, named Doris Gurin, who died in 2021. Gurin’s two daughters told The Times of Israel how selfless and devoted she was as a caregiver.

“She had the most wonderful smile. We brought her to our mom’s apartment, and they both started hugging, and it was love at first sight,” said Barbara Wachspress.

Her sister, Janice Prawer, said De Vera “was part of our family, a ray of sunshine — so special, caring, and devoted.”
Commentary Podcast: New Kids on the Blockade
Contributing editor Eli Lake is back to discuss the collapse of the Islamabad talks and the announced American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Trump picking a fight with the pope, the collapse of Eric Swalwell's gubernatorial campaign, and the emerging troubles for Republicans in the midterm elections. Plus, John recommends The Audacity on AMC.


Ben Shapiro: COURAGE: Trump Refuses To Cave To Iran, Launches Next Phase In War
After Iran refuses to take advantage of a ceasefire offer, President Trump’s negotiating team walks out of talks; America launches a blockade of Iran’s blockade; and we discuss Eric Swalwell’s political downfall.


Call me Back Podcast: Is the war going well? - a debate between Dan Shapiro and Mark Dubowitz
According to a recent CBS / YouGov poll, 41% of Americans think that the war with Iran is going well, while 59% believe it is going badly. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-war...

Can a war be won when the country fighting it doesn’t agree on whether it’s going well?

As the U.S. moves to blockade the Strait of Hormuz following failed negotiations, the debate is no longer just about battlefield gains, it’s about strategy, legitimacy, and what success really means. Dan Senor brings together former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz for a good-faith debate on where the war stands and where it should go next. From military progress to political will, and from alliance dynamics to endgame scenarios, this conversation unpacks the fault lines shaping the American debate.

In this episode:
Where do things stand after the failed U.S–Iran talks and the Hormuz blockade?
How Dan and Mark define whether the war is “going well”
What the U.S. and Israel have actually achieved militarily
Can the war be won if the Iranian regime remains intact
What economic, political, and human costs should Americans expect from this war?
How is the war affecting U.S. alliances and global standing?
Is the best path forward to escalate, contain, or shift strategy?
What happens if the war ends before achieving its core objectives?




J Street pushes to end US military aid to Israel, including Iron Dome funding
J Street, which describes itself as “pro-Israel, pro-peace, pro-democracy,” is calling on the United States to end what it describes as “unconditional financial military subsidies” to Israel, including U.S. funding for missile defense systems such as Iron Dome, marking a significant shift in the group’s long-standing policy.

“This moment demands a reset,” the group stated.

In a policy memo published on Monday, J Street stated that the U.S.-Israel security relationship requires a “fundamental reassessment,” citing the war in Gaza, violence in Judea and Samaria and regional tensions involving Iran.

Under the proposal, the group suggests a gradual end to direct military assistance after the current 10-year memorandum of understanding expires in 2028. It would preserve U.S.-Israel defense cooperation and continued arms sales, but argues Israel should be able to obtain defensive capabilities “by selling, not subsidizing, the weapons it needs,” the memo states, adding that this includes Iron Dome and other air defense systems.

“The use of American weapons in ways that have resulted in mass civilian casualties and raised serious concerns about war crimes, alongside policies that diverge from U.S. interests, has intensified scrutiny of how American support is structured and delivered,” the group wrote.

J Street also called for a “responsible and relatively rapid phase-out of all financial assistance, including for ballistic missile defense,” while maintaining security cooperation consistent with U.S. law.

It also calls for conditions on arms sales outlined in the Ceasefire Compliance Act, a bill introduced by Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) in February, which “makes clear that Israel must adhere to the October 2025 ceasefire agreement and 20-point plan for Gaza that it previously agreed to, facilitate the entrance of humanitarian aid into Gaza, prevent de facto and de jure annexation of the West Bank and take material steps to prevent settler violence.”

Under those conditions, J Street stated, Israel’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons in Gaza or Judea and Samaria could be restricted if compliance benchmarks are not met.


Meet the Man Behind Ghalibaf’s Tweets - Based in the U.S.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf led a delegation of over 80 companions to Islamabad, Pakistan, arriving early Saturday, April 11, to negotiate with representatives of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Since the onset of the U.S. and Israeli military strikes against Iran, Ghalibaf’s name has trended as a key decision-maker within the regime. Before the war, during a government rally on January 12, he echoed the rhetoric of the late Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, taunting Trump: “Come on, gambler Trump! I am your opponent. Come and see all your assets in the region destroyed.” Once the actual fighting began, however, he vanished from public view.

Yet, throughout the 39-day war, written messages on Telegram and specific tweets with a distinct tone appeared daily on his “X” account. These tweets, sometimes in English and sometimes peppered with emojis or Gen Z “memes,” addressed the American public directly, warning of economic fallout and risks to American soldiers.

Observers noted that the sophisticated English, the grasp of American societal anxieties, and the use of internet subculture suggested the work of an advisor who is fluent in English, understands the American psyche, and belongs to Iran’s “Third Generation.”

This report introduces one of Ghalibaf’s closest former (and perhaps current) advisors residing in the United States.

From Sports Editor to Senior Advisor
When Ghalibaf became Speaker of Parliament in 2020, IranWire published a report titled “Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf’s Footprints in Iranian Sports: Destruction and Corruption,” detailing the financial misconduct associated with him and his inner circle during his time as Police Chief and Mayor of Tehran. That report first named Meysam Zamanabadi as a pivotal advisor.

In 2003, while Ghalibaf was the head of the Law Enforcement Forces (FARAJA), he found a legal loophole to fund his ambitions at the Pas Sports Club. He funneled a portion of the national budget, specifically the “one percent allocation for cultural affairs and anti-drug efforts,” directly into the club. This resulted in the birth of two lavishly funded media outlets: the IPNA news agency and the Pas-e Javan newspaper.

Who ran this operation? A trio consisting of Meysam Zamanabadi, Mahmoud Abdollahi, and Saied Ajarlou (nephew of General Mostafa Ajarlou).

The Zamanabadi Legacy: Father and Son
Meysam is the son of Gholamhossein Zamanabadi, a man who claims to be one of the original members of the Islamic Coalition Party in the 1980s. While true, it is not the whole story.

Gholamhossein was among the first Ministry of Intelligence officers tasked with censoring journalists and social and sports writers after the Revolution. He is cited as the man responsible for the long-term purging of influential pre-revolutionary media figures like the late Ata’ollah Bahmanesh and Ardeshir Laroudi. During Mohammad Dadkan’s presidency of the Football Federation, Gholamhossein was the PR director in name, but a media watchdog in practice.

Leveraging his father’s influence, Meysam became the editor-in-chief of IPNA and Pas-e Javan in 2003, using the position to embed himself within Ghalibaf’s circle of trust.

When Ghalibaf became the Mayor of Tehran in 2005, he replicated the Pas Club media model on a larger scale within the Hamshahri newspaper (owned by the municipality). While Saied Ajarlou was given Hamshahri Varzeshi, Meysam Zamanabadi received an even bigger role: the launch of “Hamshahri Supplements.”

Titles such as Tamashagar, Hamshahri Mosafer, Hamshahri Zendegi, Hamshahri Omran-Shahr, and Hamshahri Jomeh (distributed exclusively at Friday prayers) were produced under Meysam’s direction with a monthly budget exceeding 150 million Tomans, a staggering sum in 2007, when the dollar was valued at less than 930 Tomans.


'The regime is a customer': BBC interviews activist behind pro-Iran Lego propaganda videos
British public broadcaster BBC interviewed an individual who goes by the moniker "Mr Explosive," responsible for creating pro-Iran AI-generated propaganda videos using Lego figures in a podcast episode published on Saturday.

"Mr Explosive" is a representative of Explosive Media, which has been publishing such videos nearly daily.

While he initially denied working for the Iranian government, and said in previous interviews that he is "totally independent," BBC questioning led to "Mr Explosive" admitting that the Islamic regime is a "customer" of Explosive Media, which the report claimed he had never previously confirmed publicly.

The propagandist appeared silhouetted, flanked by red and green light to mirror the Iranian flag, with a green-feathered helmet on his desk - associated with Husayn ibn Ali, one of the Shia Imams, who frequently features in pro-Iran propaganda.

He said that his team consists of fewer than 10 people, and they chose to use Lego-style graphics "because it is a world language." This choice appears to have led to various countries, including Iranian and Russian state media, regularly sharing them on X/Twitter.

He also regularly shows the Epstein files being used, alleging that US President Donald Trump launched Operation Epic Fury in order to distract from the prevailing conversation around his alleged association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

He told BBC that he does so in order to show the audience the "kind of confrontation they are witnessing," which is between Iran, who he claims seek "truth and freedom," and "those who associate themselves with cannibals." This references a theory that the Epstein files link the Trump administration to cannibalism, of which there is no credible evidence, BBC explained.

The propaganda videos also use other factual inaccuracies, including the Iranian military capturing a downed US fighter jet pilot, and successful Iranian strikes on key locations across Israel, the Gulf States, and the US military deployed to the region.

"Possibly, there was no lost pilot; there was no rescue operation. Their main goal was to steal uranium from Iran," he claimed.

The BBC cited US officials saying that the airman is now receiving treatment in Kuwait, to which "Mr Explosive" retorted that "Only 13% of what Trump says is based on facts."
Sky admits error on Lebanon death toll, but won’t correct on-air
Yesterday, we posted on X, tagging Sky News journalist Yalda Hakim about her April 11 interview with Israel’s UN Ambassador Danny Danon, in which she falsely claimed, in her opening question, that the IDF had killed “300 civilians” in Lebanon over the past 48 hours.

Tellingly, even Al Jazeera and the pro-Hamas British site MEMO were clear that the death toll released by Lebanon’s Health Ministry (which is run by a Hezbollah member) didn’t include a break-down of civilians and combatants.

The Sky journalist replied to our X post, acknowledging the error, while suggesting that no formal correction needs to be issued.

However, Ofcom, which regulates Sky News, is clear that “Significant mistakes in news should normally be acknowledged and corrected on air quickly”. The fact that Israel’s ambassador had the opportunity to respond to Hakim’s false claim doesn’t obviate Sky’s responsibility to report accurately, and set the record straight.

As such, we contacted Sky News requesting that they broadcast a timely on-air correction.




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"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    
 

 



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2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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