The official website of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday published an AI-generated cartoon appearing to depict Jews and Israeli soldiers as frightened rats fleeing Iranian missiles on an American flag-draped vessel at sea.
The caption to the cartoon cites part of a speech Khamenei made the previous day in which he said Iranian attacks forced Israel to seek US intervention.
"If (Israel) hadn’t bowed down, if it hadn’t collapsed to the ground, if it didn’t need help, if it were capable of defending itself, it wouldn’t have resorted to the United States like that. Turning to the United States means it realized it could not handle the Islamic Republic."
In the speech, Khamenei added, "we deem the Zionist regime a cancer," and called Israel America's "rabid dog".
Iranian officialdom has repeatedly declared victory following a 12-day war with Israel last month in which its Mideast nemesis pounded military bases and nuclear sites and killed hundreds of personnel, nuclear scientists and civilians.
Retaliatory Iranian missile salvos killed 27 Israeli civilians. The conflict was capped by US attacks on three Iranian nuclear sites which President Donald Trump said "obliterated" Tehran's disputed program.
Following the conflict, Iranian state TV aired a song calling for “uprooting the Jews” which aired July 2.
“Behind Ali, obedient to the Leader’s command, we are all proud soldiers; we will uproot the Jews with power,” the song said.
Iran’s state media has repeatedly promoted antisemitic themes across films, festivals, and official speeches.
In 2001, the government aired a mini-series titled Saint Mary that depicted Jewish communities at the time of Jesus’s birth as “lacking compassion and rationality.” The Jewish Association of Tehran criticized the series for reinforcing harmful stereotypes.
In 2005, then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted an international Holocaust cartoon competition. Ahmadinejad, who publicly denied the Holocaust, once said Israel should be “wiped off the map.” The contest continues today with backing from official cultural institutions.
Despite the official hostility, Iran maintains a Jewish population estimated between 8,000 and 10,000. The World Jewish Congress notes the community’s historical presence in Iran since 586 BCE, with roughly 100 synagogues still in operation.
