Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, normally a moderate voice in the regime, has put out a scathing denunciation of Israel as “child-killers” — and he did so in a message to a gathering of Iranian children.
Zarif declared, “The tradition of child killing is only practiced by wretched stone-hearted criminals who disregard the entire humane values and reply to children’s cries of wrath through gun, tank, and cannon barrels.”
Mocking Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome air defense system, he continued, “These wretched child-killer criminals put a straw dome on their heads, and then from land, air and sea destroy the homes of the Gaza children and set ablaze their small veils.”
Statements across the Iranian regime have taken an increasingly hard line during the 32-day between Israel and Gaza. While the Supreme Leader and Iran’s military have been tough from the start — calling for the arming of Palestinians in the West Bank as well as Gaza — Zarif and President Rouhani had been more reserved.
However, in the past week, Rouhani has also stepped up his verbal attacks, linking Israel and the jihadist Islamic State as “tumors” threatening the world.
On Friday, he told the Iranian children, “Bombardment of schools and killing of children in Gaza is a clear example of genocide in the world today.”
Mehr features photos of the Iranian children protesting on behalf of children in Gaza:
