In remarks indicating deep antisemitism, the commander of Iran’s Basij militia said on Thursday that Jewish hostility towards Islam has existed since the advent of the religion.

The Islamic Republic will steadily continue its attempts to destroy Israel in line with “The Second Step of the Revolution,” Gholamreza Soleimani added.

The Second Step of the Revolution was a term coined by Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei, in 2019 on the 40th anniversary of the Islamic revolution. At the time Khamenei pledged resistance against “the American and Zionist domination” in the region.

Khamenei also stated in 2015 that Israel must be destroyed within 25 years, a remark that has been repeatedly cited by Tehran officials ever since. 

It is worth noting that despite these threats, many citizens in Iran have largely refused to follow the regime’s anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric. Amid a wave of pro-Palestinian rallies across the world, hardliners in Iran have admitted that the general public there have little appetite for the Palestinian cause.

The Islamic Republic, the primary supporter of Hamas, has provided military and financial assistance to the militant organization which launched a deadly onslaught on Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 and taking over 240 people hostages. However, so far, Tehran has refrained from direct involvement in the war to defend its ally.