IRGC Quds Force commander Qaani says Jenin proves Israel can be beaten - analysis

Iran’s Quds Force commander, Esmael Qaani, said that the battle in Jenin this week shows that Palestinian young men are able to confront Israel’s army, even when Israel deploys its best units. He made the comments in a statement that was posted on pro-regime Tasnim News online on Wednesday.

"Today, we are witnessing that the Zionist regime brought all its forces to the field in the Jenin camp, but the Palestinian youth hit him in the mouth." He claims that Palestinians are able to carry out numerous operations against Israel.  

Qaani took over the Quds Force, a part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in January 2020 after the US killed Qasem Soleimani with a drone strike. He made the comments during the opening of a project in Iran and initially he slammed the US and praised the late commander Soleimani.   

Then he turned his attention to Israel. "The children of Palestine have never been as powerful and strong as today, and on the other hand, the criminal Israelis have never been like today." He implied Israel was divided internally by protests, while Palestinians are unified. Iran’s goal in the last years has been to entrench in Syria and then unify various Iranian-backed groups against Israel, including militias in Iraq and Syria, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas.  

 The changing world order allegedly favors Iran

Qaani pointed out that Iran is not only able to back the Palestinians, but also said that Syria has returned to the Arab League, basically asserting that Iran has been successful in diplomacy in the region, and in threatening Israel via proxies.

"Resistance has shown itself in the political, security, and economic arenas. These are the lessons that the Islamic Republic has learned within itself and is teaching to other countries, so the enemies are upset about this issue, and then they become so helpless that they die,” he said, according to Tasnim News.  

He said that Iran-backed “resistance,” which is a euphemism for the IRGC and various terror groups, are transforming the region and that the US is declining. He marked 9/11 as an example of the beginning of an era of US decline after the US entered various wars in the region.

“Today, the transfer of power from the West to Asia has been operationalized and is happening, if it were not for America's failures in various fields, these conditions would not have arisen, this Islamic revolution is the most effective factor that has shaped these events.” He then praised China and said that the US was declining.  

Iran is seeking to be part of a China-led world order, working with Russia and groups like BRICS and the SCO, hoping to integrate with China’s economy. Towards that end Iran is seeking to swallow Iraq, like an anaconda, making Iraq’s economy dependent on Tehran and siphoning off resources. Iran is pleased that the US occupied Iraq after 2003 and that Iran jumped into the vacuum this created.   

“Compare the situation in Iraq today with the time when the Americans occupied Iraq. At first, when they occupied Iraq, they ruled as a military commander, and after a while, due to pressure, they replaced him [the military commander] with a political person, but now see what a government, parliament, and system. It prevails in Iraq, this is due to the strength of the culture of the Islamic Revolution and resistance,” Qaani said.