TEHRAN – Several Israeli and American figures have reacted angrily to a letter by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution which praised students in U.S. universities for standing up for Palestinians subject to an ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

“When you’ve won the Ayatollah, you’ve lost America,” wrote U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson on X. Johnson was met with boos when he visited Columbia University’s campus last month to speak with protesting students asking for divestment from Israeli institutions.

In a later interview, the Republican called the students “aspiring terrorists,” saying he would make sure that college professors and pupils involved in the protests would be hauled in front of Congress. 

Johnson’s largest donor is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which is a pro-Israel lobbying organization that calls for unconditional U.S. support for Israel and pushes back against any criticism of the regime. 

Another furious reaction came from Ritchie John Torres, a U.S. representative for New York's 15th congressional district. Torres said that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s praising of American students means that they are “useful idiots on the wrong side of history.” The Democratic politician’s biggest donor is also AIPAC. 

Some Israeli officials were also fuming after the release of the letter. “Bravo students, you are now the beloved children of Mahsa Amini’s killer,” said Israel’s envoy to Belgium and Luxembourg on her social media account. 

Idit Rosenzweig-Abu was referring to the passing of an Iranian woman who lost her life in September of 2022 days after collapsing in a police station. Western and Israeli media outlets claimed Amini had passed away due to a brain injury she sustained during a confrontation with police forces. 

However, her hospital records, brain scans, and a video of Amini’s father confirming to a judiciary worker that her daughter had not been injured in any form proved her demise was not the result of a police confrontation. Further investigations revealed that Amini died due to a pre-existing brain condition for which she had undergone surgery as a child.

Nonetheless, Israel and Western nations used Amini’s death to spur unprecedented riots in Iran in the fall of 2022, during which over 300 people including more than 70 security forces lost their lives. 

More Israelis tried to use the false narrative regarding Amini’s death to demotivate American students. A lawyer working for the Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy wrote on X: “When Ayatollah Khamenei is applauding you, you are on the WRONG side of history!”

The lawyer has backed Israel’s massacre of women and children under different pretexts for the past 8 months. 

American students, however, seem to have received encouragement from Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter. They hailed the message as a sign that their efforts have not gone unnoticed and vowed that they would continue to stand up for human rights despite the mounting pressure. 

For the past two months, students have been setting up encampments in universities across the United States, asking their institutions to cut ties with Israeli entities. Their peaceful protests have been met with extremely violent crackdowns, suspensions, and threats of various forms.