On Saturday, April 13, Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for a deadly Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, that occurred on April 1.
The vast majority of the projectiles were intercepted by the Israeli air defense system with support from the ever-helpful US military, and damage was minimal. Having completed its retaliation, Iran has now said the matter “can be considered closed” – although Israel is not typically one to let someone else have the final say.
Meanwhile, the flood of criticism of Tehran’s “aggression” in the West continues unabated.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “strongly condemned the Iranian regime’s reckless attack against Israel,” which he stressed had once again shown that Iran was “intending to sow chaos in its own backyard.” The Czech Foreign Ministry complained that “Iran’s long-term aggressive behavior prevents a life of peace and security in the Middle East region.”
For his part, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau complained about Iran’s “disregard for peace and stability in the region” and repeated the old, hackneyed slogan “Israel’s right to defend itself.” The German ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, expressed on social media German solidarity “with all Israelis tonight whom Iran is terrorizing with this unprecedented and ruthless attack.”
Finally, US President Joe Biden, who was forced to cut short his beach weekend due to the developments, announced: “Our commitment to the security of Israel from threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.”
The Iranian attack came just over six months after Israel’s ongoing pulverization of the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 34,000 Palestinians, including some 13,800 children. And yet, given the thousands of missing people believed to be buried beneath the rubble, even these frightening numbers are undoubtedly a significant underestimate.
More than 76,000 people were injured as the Israeli military was busy leveling entire neighborhoods and blowing up schools, hospitals and other basic infrastructure, all while condemning the area’s residents to famine and starvation.
Talk about “terrorizing.”
In fact, genocide is nothing more than “long-term aggressive behavior” – in the words of the Czech Foreign Ministry. If the whole thing weren’t so unprecedentedly heinous, it would be almost ridiculous to claim that Iran “intends to sow chaos” and disregards “peace and stability in the region.”
But because Israel’s outsized role as a valued U.S. partner in crime entitles it to a complete subversion of logic, genocidal victims become victims and unmitigated Israeli aggression becomes “self-defense.” And not to mention the Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1st; This was just pre-emptive retaliation, right?
However, given the incessant massacre in Gaza, the West’s response to the intercepted Iranian missiles and drones is shockingly cynical. Sunak’s pathetic claim that “no one wants to see more bloodshed” fails to take into account the reality that as long as it is Palestinian blood, everything is perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, the Iranian spectacle could provide the Biden administration with exactly what it needs to shift the focus away from Gaza – and in particular US complicity in the genocide. Ultimately, it would be a sad day for the defense industry if the United States had to stop supplying so many weapons to such an active customer.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the United States was responsible for a whopping 69 percent of the Israeli military’s arms imports between 2019 and 2023, when the full-scale genocide began.
So much for “peace and stability”.
But one should never underestimate the imperial utility of the good old Iranian threat in justifying US policies that need to be justified. Recall Tehran’s inclusion on the original “Axis of Evil” shortlist, courtesy of former US President George W. Bush, who in his 2002 State of the Union address blasted Iran for its “aggressive” pursuit of denounced weapons of mass destruction and “export weapons”.[ing] Terror”.
Armed with this “Axis,” the United States committed nothing less than mass destruction and terror throughout the Middle East and beyond.
Fast forward 22 years to today’s era of destruction, and the Iranian bogeyman is as practical as ever. After this weekend’s attack, perhaps everyone’s favorite refrain: “But do you condemn Hamas?” may be updated to: “But do you condemn Iran?”
Among the things that are truly condemnable is the genocide in Gaza – not to mention the West’s shameless and hypocritical insistence on Israel’s “right to self-defense”, which ultimately amounts to genocidal apologetics.
And as world leaders continue to stumble over themselves and reaffirm their solidarity with Israel in the wake of this “unprecedented attack,” we would all do well to remember that you reap what you sow — and that Iran is not here is the aggressor.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.