Reactions of Islamic Republic Officials to the Death of Sinwar; Delayed and Similar

"Jihad is a noble goal that will not be stopped by the assassination and elimination of heroes"; "The martyr is alive and inspiring"; "The martyr ignites the flames of anti-Zionist resistance"; "The cause of Palestinian freedom is more alive today." These are just a few sample phrases from the messages of senior officials of the Islamic Republic in response to the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of the extremist group Hamas in Gaza and the architect of last year's surprise attack on Israel, during which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and over 230 were taken captive. This attack also triggered a widespread and prolonged war by Israel against Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, two important proxy arms of the Islamic Republic in the region; a war that has left over 40,000 civilian casualties in Gaza and severely depleted both of Tehran's proxy groups in terms of leadership and armament. The United States and the European Union classify the extremist group Hamas as terrorist, while Hezbollah is both a militia and a political party, with the U.S. designating it as terrorist and the EU only labeling its military wing as such. Officials of the Islamic Republic, who had yet to digest the "humiliating from a security perspective" assassination of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran about two and a half months ago, faced an even heavier blow three weeks ago: the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of Hezbollah and the most loyal regional ally of the Islamic Republic in over three decades. The reactions in Iran to Sinwar's death; the end of the "killer agent" or "superhero". This incident was such a heavy and unexpected blow that it compelled the Islamic Republic, despite all risks, to carry out a second extensive missile attack against Israel; an attack involving over 180 ballistic missiles that resulted in the death of one Palestinian and minor damage to two Israeli air bases. Now, the killing of Yahya Sinwar was another lethal blow that apparently the officials of the Islamic Republic were not prepared for; so much so that despite the confirmation of the news by the Israeli army and government and all international media in the early hours of Thursday night, they followed this incident with "buts and ifs" and doubt for hours. Even the reaction of the Islamic Republic's representation at the United Nations did not change the position of officials and media inside Iran until Hamas itself finally confirmed the death of its senior leader with about a 24-hour delay. Only at this time did a flood of condolence messages from Islamic Republic officials quickly appear on various news agencies and media outlets. The delay in expressing reactions was not the only common feature of these messages; the language and rhetoric used in them were sometimes so similar that it seemed they were carried out according to a single directive: repeated emphasis that the killing of Yahya Sinwar does not mean the defeat of the "axis of resistance" but, according to them, will lead to its strengthening. Or references to the location of his killing and emphasizing the claim that he—contrary to the statements of Israeli leaders—was not hiding in tunnels but was present in an ordinary building. The leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah who were killed by Israel since October 7. The leader of the Islamic Republic, two days after the announcement of Yahya Sinwar's death in Gaza, described his death as "painful" in a statement and wrote that the "resistance front" would not stop with the killing of "Sinwar". Ali Khamenei also described the deadly attack by the extremist group Hamas on Israel last October as the "irreparable blow of October 7" to Israel, which Sinwar left as a legacy in the history of this region. Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, referred to Yahya Sinwar as a "tireless fighter" and listed "fighting until the last moment of life" as one of his values. However, he also described Yahya Sinwar's death as "painful and heartbreaking". Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, also mentioned that this Hamas leader "fought until his last breath on the battlefield"—in an indirect reference to the discussion of his presence in tunnels—and claimed that Sinwar "was not afraid of death". Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also directly addressed the issue of tunnels in his message, writing that he was "not killed in the depths of Gaza's hidden tunnels but in the heart of the field and on the ground" to—according to him—expose Israel's "imaginary and false portrayals". Similar references and emphases were also seen in the messages of other figures of the Islamic Republic, including Mohammad Reza Aref, the First Vice President, Mohammad Mokhber, the assistant to the leader of the Islamic Republic, Saeed Jalili, the representative of the leader of the Islamic Republic in the Supreme National Security Council, and some Friday prayer leaders. But is the location and manner of Yahya Sinwar's killing, as claimed by the officials of the Islamic Republic, more important than the mere elimination of this Hamas leader, especially in the wake of the repeated downfall of the leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon? Meanwhile, while the sword of the threat of retaliatory action by Israel against Iran in response to the recent missile attack hovers over the Islamic Republic, the reason for the delay in confirming Sinwar's death can be interpreted in public perception as a sign of surprise and desperation in the face of Israel's successive blows and the shortening of the proxy arms or "strategic depth" of the Islamic Republic. Whether the slogan of "being alive and even more alive in resistance" is an empty slogan or is based on the idea of "the survival of ideologies and not relying on figures" is another question that perhaps developments in the coming days and weeks in the region will clarify to some extent.