Chant first, regret later: the consequences of Iran’s death rhetoric

Taeb was Ali Khamenei’s representative at Sarallah Headquarters, one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ most critical domestic security commands—and a target of Israeli strikes during the recent conflict.

Ali Taeb’s brothers—Hossein Taeb and Mehdi Taeb—are two of the most influential operatives in the Islamic Republic establishment.

Hossein served as the long-time head of the IRGC Intelligence Organization (IRGC-IO), directly under the control of the Supreme Leader. Known for his ruthlessness, clerical ties, and proximity to Mojtaba Khamenei, Hossein was widely viewed as one of the most powerful figures in the Islamic Republic—until his ousting in 2022.

Ali Taeb’s role at Sarallah Headquarters placed him at the heart of Tehran’s security response to unrest and foreign threats. That position—and his familial ties to Hossein and Mehdi Taeb—make his sudden death significant.

According to Iranian state media, Ali Taeb was a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and a deeply embedded cleric in the Islamic Republic’s ideological apparatus.

Though he originally studied mechanical engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology, he was reportedly persuaded by leading clerics such as Ayatollah Bahjat and Allameh Tabatabaei to enter the seminary. Early in his religious studies, he operated under an alias while evading the Shah’s intelligence services.

He later rose through the ranks of the IRGC, serving as deputy head of propaganda during the war, commander of the Ramadan Base, and head of the Motahari University in Qom.

He held multiple top roles including advisor to the Joint Chiefs of the IRGC, president of the Foundation for Martyrs and Veterans in Qom, and director of Al-Mustafa International University.

He was also a member of the board of trustees at the Noor Computer Research Center and ran the Ghadir Information Center.

Iran's establishment is disoriented, humiliated and prone to fight back by asymmetric means now that its conventional military and regional allies have been so thoroughly degraded, said Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute thinktank.

“They're like a boxer that's been punched in the nose, fallen down on his knee on the mat, but he's getting up … they'll start assassinating people,” Doran said.

In an interview with Eye for Iran, Doran said that while Iranian officials publicly declared victory after US and Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities, behind closed doors the Islamic Republic is in crisis.

Its most powerful military sites were struck. Its deterrence was shattered. And now, it is left with few options but through covert attacks and regional destabilization.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added, still does not understand the full extent of Tehran's losses. “Nobody wants to be the bearer of bad news... everybody lies to their superior,” Doran said.

Doran said Tehran will turn to tactics it has long relied on including assassinations and reliance on proxy groups across the region.

Rights groups have for decades accused Tehran of killing dissidents abroad and four members of Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon were indicted by an international tribunal for their alleged role in killed a former prime minister, Rafic Hariri.

“They're going to look for those lines of fissure and see where they can cause trouble,” he said. “Assassination, intimidation ... that's the program always.”

After the 12-day war, Iran is again trying to fracture emerging regional cooperation, Doran said, adding that Tehran may target figures in Lebanon, Syria or elsewhere to advance its battered interests. Doran served as Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs at the National Security Council and later as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, where he helped shape US strategy on Iran and the broader Middle East.

“If the Lebanese start moving toward normalization with Israel, they'll assassinate somebody,” he said. “They’ll assassinate al-Sharaa in Damascus,” Doran added, referring to Syria's de facto leader, an opponent of Iran.

Despite recent rhetoric about diplomacy, Doran believes US President Donald Trump remains committed to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. “He knows that the guys across the way from him are nasty people, nasty thugs,” he said.

As Tehran regroups, Doran said the United States must maintain its pressure.

“Don't remove the sanctions,” he warned. “Iran is weak ... but they still know those techniques. And I expect them to use them.”

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Authorities cited “owner negligence,” but eyewitnesses disputed the claim. Satire followed in characteristic volume and speed, instinctively almost—to cope with pervasive post-war unease that sees Israeli shadows everywhere after 12-days of strikes and assassinations.

“Call the Tehran gas company right now and someone picks up saying ‘Shalom, how can I help you?’” quipped one X user named Mehran.

“We thought the army would be the first to break ranks,” activist Ebrahim Allahbakhshi posted on X. “Turns out it was the gas company.”

“The gas company has joined the people,” concurred an anonymous but influential activist going by the name Hamidreza.

Default is disbelief

Years of contradictory official accounts, botched cover-ups and evasive press conferences have hollowed out public trust. Disbelief is automatic. Then comes humor—and the occasional ‘gotcha’ fact-checking.

The affected tower was largely unoccupied and yet to be connected to the gas grid, witnesses from the area told Iran International.

Many others pointed out that there were no signs of fire associated with gas explosions in the available pictures of the building.

Even a typically sober voice like BBC analyst Hossein Bastani couldn’t resist invoking precedent.

“One of the strange constants of Israel’s operations in Iran is the Islamic Republic’s effort to deny Israeli responsibility,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

“The 2011 Bidganeh explosion that killed Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, father of Iran’s missile program, was first described as an ‘accident’—until it was revealed to be Mossad’s work.”

No hard evidence has emerged to date of Mossad’s hand in that explosion, but British publications Time and The Guardian have reported Israeli links citing unnamed officials outside and inside Iran.

Israel is the punchline

This perceived Israeli link is reflected in almost every reaction.

“The Islamic Republic has lost control of the gas company too—just like it lost the skies over Iran,” joked Amin Pouria, a prominent influencer with over 400,000 followers on X, alluding to Israel’s aerial dominance during the 12-day war.

Some users even posted AI-generated images depicting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the uniform of Iran’s national gas company.

Blogger Siamak Mosalmani invoked the targeted assassination of Iran’s top military brass by Israel—and their mass funeral after the ceasefire.

“With the mayor of Tehran in attendance, the Martyrs of Gas section (will be) opened at (Tehran’s main cemetery) Behesht Zahra.”

It struck a chord because it mirrored the state’s reflex: blame the tool, ignore the problem.

Digital strategist Adel Talebi summed up the sentiment with a full-on mock policy proposal.

“You say WhatsApp is a spy tool, you’re shutting down the internet,” he posted on X. “But now gas has gotten unruly too, blowing up on its own, without coordination. Maybe it’s time to cut off gas entirely?”

“The bitter situation the country has faced is the result of a series of major mistakes,” Mousavi said in a statement published by reformist-leaning Iranian newspaper Hammihan.

“The twelve-day war (with Israel) showed that the only guarantee for the nation’s survival is respect for every citizen’s right to self-determination,” the former prime minister added.

“After the war that was waged against us, the people have expectations from the government. Leaving them unanswered only delights the enemy." Mousavi said the current structure of the Islamic Republic “does not represent all Iranians.”

The release of political prisoners and reforms to the state broadcaster’s approach, he added, were “the minimum expectations” of the public.

Mousavi was Iran’s prime minister from 1981 to 1989 before it switched to a presidential system.

Along with cleric Mehdi Karroubi, Mousavi was a candidate in the disputed 2009 presidential election and challenged the results, leading large protests dubbed the Green Movement for months before he was arrested and placed under house arrest.

His wife Zahra Rahnavard and Karroubi were also accused of sedition against the Islamic Republic and remain under house arrest.

“A strange phenomenon,” declared Abdollah Ganji, former chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated daily Javan, to his 150,000 followers on X on July 9.

“After the recent war, several pieces of paper were found on the streets of Tehran containing talismans with Jewish symbols," he added. "A few years ago, the Supreme Leader said that hostile countries and Western and Hebrew intelligence services use occult sciences and jinn beings for espionage."

In March 2020, supreme leader Ali Khamenei alleged in a televised address that “enemies from among both jinn and human beings” were arrayed against Iran.

The quote was later removed from some official transcripts.

What Are Jinn?

Ganji—now an advisor to the mayor of Tehran—was echoing a broader pattern of supernatural claims pervading Iran’s official political narrative.

In Islamic tradition, jinn are supernatural beings made from fire, distinct from humans, who are created from soil.

Mentioned frequently in the Quran and rooted in pre-Islamic mythology, jinn are believed by some to have the ability to shapeshift, influence human thoughts, and act as agents of harm or espionage.

References to them remain common in Iranian political and religious rhetoric, particularly when discussing Israel and Western powers. Clerics on Iranian television and radio have repeatedly discussed Israel’s alleged use of jinn.

“Given the Zionists’ history of controlling jinn, many of their missions are carried out through them,” said Hojatoleslam Mehdi Karami in an October 2024 program.

In March 2023, state TV aired remarks by Quranic scholar Hojjat ol-Eslam Valiyollah Naghipourfar, who claimed Iran’s intelligence services had thwarted Israeli infiltration efforts conducted via jinn.

Scapegoating failure?

While many clerics view jinn as real and spiritually potent, others—particularly among Iran’s modernist theologians—interpret them metaphorically.

Ganji’s comment on X renewed the debate, with moderate voices pushing back.

“Talking about Jewish talismans and the role of jinn and fairies in Israel’s aggression against Iran is an attempt to downplay the role of infiltrators and to overlook the enemy’s tactics,” former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said on X.

Desert totems

Ganji’s post—and the ensuing debate—wasn’t missed in Israel.

“Consuming drugs and conversing with jinn are not desirable traits in someone leading a country,” an X account purporting to represent Israel's intelligence agency, the Mossad, posted in Persian.

To make the debate even more intriguing, Ganji’s post coincided with the circulation of a satellite image showing geometric patterns—including Stars of David and triangles—etched into a desert near a missile base in central Iran.

The origin of the shapes remains unclear, but some social media users linked them to occult or symbolic efforts aimed at Iran’s military.

Iranian authorities have since removed the markings but Israeli diplomat Waleed Gadban reposted an image of the desert patterns with a mocking caption: “We are closer to you than your jugular vein.”