Response of the Basij Commander to Rouhani: Erasing Israel is Among Our Ideals

The head of Iran's Basij Organization reacted to Hassan Rouhani's criticism of the slogan "Erasing Israel" written on one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) missiles, emphasizing that the "erasure" of this country is part of the Islamic Republic's "ideals." According to ISNA news agency, Gholamhossein Ghaibparvar stated on Sunday, May 7, "Is writing 'Death to Israel' on a missile a bad thing? Essentially, erasing Israel is among our ideals." Hassan Rouhani had said on Friday, May 5, during the second presidential debate that "underground cities have shown; they wrote slogans on missiles to undermine the JCPOA." The Iranian president referred to images of the IRGC's missile silos on Iranian television and the writing of the slogan "Israel must be erased from the page of time" in Hebrew on one of the tested missiles. These actions by the IRGC have previously received significant attention. For instance, Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Minister of Defense, mentioned in a speech at the Munich Security Conference on February 19, 2017, that Iran had written on long-range missiles fired in 2015, including in Hebrew, "Israel must be erased from the page of time." In October 2015, the IRGC unveiled its first "missile city," and the commander of its aerospace force stated at that time that Iran's long-range missile bases are "500 meters deep under high mountains" and "ready to confront threats from enemies in all provinces and cities". The IRGC unveiled Iran's "second missile city" in January of the same year. Some officials of the Islamic Republic have repeatedly spoken explicitly or implicitly about the "destruction of Israel," and Ayatollah Khamenei's website selected his statement that "Israel will not see 25 years into the future" as the quote of the year at the end of 2015. Rouhani's remarks criticizing the IRGC's actions in relation to the JCPOA had previously provoked a reaction from the General Staff of the Armed Forces, with Masoud Jazayeri, the spokesman for this staff, stating that the enhancement of missile capabilities is unrelated to the JCPOA. Meanwhile, in recent days, a video of statements by Mehdi Taeb, a critic of the government and head of the Ammar Headquarters, has been circulated on social media, in which he asserts that "Rouhani's JCPOA" has prevented the export of Iranian military weapons to Yemen three times and has closed the path for sending missiles to Yemen. In this video, which apparently first appeared on April 15, Taeb concludes that "every blood spilled in Yemen, Rouhani is complicit in it." Earlier, the commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force criticized the "humiliating" approach of Rouhani's government, stating that Iran's "ready-to-fly satellite launcher" is being kept in storage "out of fear of America." The continued reactions to the statements of candidates in the second debate also reflected new responses regarding the remarks of other candidates in the presidential election debate in Iranian media. On this day, the spokesman for the Presidential Election Advertising Supervisory Commission also stated that only "one complaint with two axes" has been sent to this commission, and complaints reported by some media have not been submitted to this commission. Mr. Ghazizadeh Hashemi did not refer to the details of this complaint. Previously, IRNA reported that Hassan Rouhani had complained to the Presidential Election Advertising Commission about Ibrahim Raisi's remarks regarding the "plundering" of the Cultural Fund's assets. Fars news agency also reported that Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's campaign had complained to the Presidential Election Advertising Commission about the debate moderator for allegedly "changing the lottery ticket." The statements of the presidential candidates in the second debate have prompted reactions from some ministries and institutions in Iran, including the Ministry of Culture, which criticized Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf for providing "incorrect information" about the role of the Tehran Municipality in constructing cultural sites. The Foreign and Economy ministries also described Ibrahim Raisi's statements about the JCPOA and sanctions as "incorrect and unilateral claims about the JCPOA." The Atomic Energy Organization, the Foreign Ministry, the Press Deputy of the Ministry of Culture, and the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development responded to Mustafa Mirsalim's comments in the second televised debate, deeming his criticisms unfounded. Meanwhile, Mustafa Mirsalim stated on Saturday that Hassan Rouhani himself should respond to the criticisms raised during the debate rather than government agencies responding to the candidates' remarks. He emphasized that parts of the government "have effectively taken on the role of Mr. Rouhani's campaign headquarters by mobilizing all resources." On Sunday, the Central Bank described Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf's remarks about 4% of the society using banking resources as "an unprofessional and diversionary approach in the debates," stating that "proving this requires the presentation of statistical and expert documentation by the claimant." According to the Central Bank, 200 legal entities under steel, oil, and automotive industries have received the most banking facilities. Government officials have long claimed to have submitted the list of bank debtors to the judiciary, but no detailed report on the judiciary's actions in this regard has been published so far. In this context, the head of the Iranian judiciary stated on Sunday that judicial action against those with banking debts "is not necessarily the only correct action, as many individuals with banking debts are honorable and religious people who have faced many problems due to economic fluctuations." Sadegh Larijani also emphasized that the judiciary will "certainly" and "seriously" deal with those who "abused this situation by obtaining large sums from banks but used these amounts for unnecessary purposes or even abroad." According to media reports and statements from some officials, 80% of banking debts belong to 500 debtors. The head of the Central Bank of Iran reported in February 2017 that the amount of banking debts had reached 105 trillion tomans, which is an increase of 15 trillion tomans or 17% compared to the end of the previous year.