Iran’s axis plays victim and aggressor at the same time - analysis

The Iranian-backed axis of terrorist groups in the region is continuing to threaten Israel. However, at the same time, the pro-Iranian media and Iranian state media want to portray these groups as both victims and aggressors. This is part of the narrative employed by Iran and its allies to excuse their war crimes by framing them as responses to attacks.

To understand how this complex narrative works, it’s worth looking at some Iranian and pro-Iran media on the eve of the October 7 anniversary of the Hamas massacre. Al Mayadeen, a popular pro-Iranian website that often covers in detail the attacks of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups, has several articles on October 6 devoted to the war on Israel.

Let’s start with how the media portrays these groups as aggressors. “Clashes and sniper attacks on soldiers…The resistance confronts Israeli attempts to infiltrate the northern Gaza Strip.” This refers to renewed IDF strikes on northern Gaza, including fighting in Jabalya.

“The Mujahideen of the al-Quds Brigades, in cooperation with the Mujahideen of the al-Qassam Brigades, were able to snipe an Israeli soldier in Al-Banat Street east of Beit Hanoun, in the northern Gaza Strip,” the report says. These two groups are the “armed wing” of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas respectively. The report also now claims that groups fighting in Gaza are now supporting" Lebanese people,” basically making it seem that Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are now trying to increase pressure on Israel to help Hezbollah.

Now, let’s see how they are also portrayed as victims. One article on the homepage of Al Mayadeen describes Israeli airstrikes on Beirut. “The Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that the occupation targeted, at night, a gas station and warehouses for medical equipment and supplies in the suburb,” the report states. This is obviously false, as the IDF has been targeting Hezbollah sites.

'Israel' continues its aggression on #Beirut's Southern Suburb during daytime, still targeting residential areas and civilian installations.#Lebanon https://t.co/VQaIVHF5Eo

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 6, 2024

Celebrating or victims of aggression? 

At the same time, the pro-Iran media is making it seem that October 7 was aggression towards Gaza. “One year after the aggression on the Gaza Strip…Health Ministry: 986 martyrs in the health sector.” The report accuses Israel of a massacre in Deir al-Balah. In another headline at Al Mayadeen, the report claims, “The occupation concludes its first year of aggression on the Gaza Strip by committing several massacres in the center and North.” This use of the “first year of aggression” claim is meant to make it seem that October 7 was an attack on Gaza rather than a Hamas attack on Israel. In essence, the same narrative celebrates Hamas for attacking Israel and claims it was an “aggression” on Gaza.

The same mix of claiming Iran and its axis are victims as well as aggressors can be found at Iran’s state media IRNA. It claims that Israel attacked a border crossing between Lebanon and Syria. In another case, IRNA claims that “Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement has fired a barrage of rockets at Kiryat Shmona, a town containing Zionist settlements and other positions in the north of occupied Palestine.” IRNA points out that Iranian-backed groups in Iraq launched drones at Israel. It also says Iran has condemned “aggression” against the Houthis in Yemen. “Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh has strongly condemned yet another attack launched by the United States and Britain on Yemen as a part of their efforts to protect the Zionist regime and its interest in the West Asia region,” the report says.

Iran needs this narrative to justify and excuse its attacks across the region. Iran has mobilized groups in Iraq to attack US forces in Iraq and Syria. It has mobilized seven fronts against Israel, including its own direct attacks on Israel with ballistic missiles. However, Tehran also wants to prepare the narrative ground with seeds to be able to pretend that it is a victim of Israel or a victim of the US. This then justifies more rounds of “retaliation” by Iran and its proxies, even though they are the ones that started all these attacks. Hamas started attacks on October 7, Hezbollah on October 8, and then the Iraqi militias and Houthis.