IRGC general says US and Israel defeated, as propaganda war continues
The Islamic Republic of Iran has inflicted the United States' first major strategic defeat in the West Asia region, the commander of the IRGC Basij paramilitary said on Tuesday.
The Islamic Republic of Iran has inflicted the United States' first major strategic defeat in the West Asia region, the commander of the IRGC Basij paramilitary said on Tuesday.
"The defeat of the United States in the contemporary era in the West Asia region was its first major strategic defeat. This defeat was the greatest defeat the United States has faced since its founding," General Gholamreza Soleimani told Tehran media on Tuesday.
Soleimani also said Israel is economically crippled amid the war in Gaza against Iran-backed Hamas, while Iran's largest militia in Lebanon, Hezbollah, continues daily exchanges with Israel. Attacks have also been launched from Iran's militias in Yemen, Syria and Iraq since Hamas's October 7 attacks on Israel last year.
“The Zionist regime has been defeated militarily,” Soleimani said, adding that it is a continuation of the revolution of 1979, which saw the Islamic Republic form and overthrow the monarchy.
Soleimani's remarks come amid widespread blackouts in Iran due to fuel shortages and the severe devaluation of its currency, now worth just 1/10,000th of its value before the Islamic Republic's establishment in 1979. Meanwhile, Iran's regional proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, have been weakened by recent Israeli attacks.
“The great Iranian nation, during the Islamic Revolution under wise leadership, confronted the deviant Pahlavi regime, stood against the United States, and defeated it,” Soleimani said.
As the propaganda war continues, he called for a global campaign to convince public opinion that Israel’s downfall is imminent.
“The world’s public opinion must be convinced that this regime has collapsed. We must continuously create and disseminate content in the digital space, spreading the message that the Zionist regime has been defeated,” he added.
Soleimani’s remarks come amid ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel in the region. Iran frequently cites the Islamic Revolution of 1979 as a moment of resistance to foreign domination, framing its policies as part of a broader struggle against US military presence in the region and its global influence.
Soleimani highlighted the role of the United States in what he described as the survival of Israel, which he called the “filthy body of the Zionist regime.”
His comments align with Iran’s broader strategy of leveraging anti-Israeli and anti-Western sentiments to strengthen its regional alliances and bolster its narrative of resistance.
While Soleimani painted a picture of an Israel on the verge of collapse this week, in both of Iran's recent aerial bombardments of Israel, Israeli forces, along with international allies, intercepted most of the projectiles launched, challenging claims of a dismantled air defense network.
Meanwhile, in Israel's recent retaliatory attack to the October bombardment, masses of Iranian air defenses were destroyed.
