TEHRAN – Over the past year, Israel's military campaign in Gaza and Lebanon has mostly produced political and strategic failures for the Zionists. With that, the regime has resorted to its tried-and-true tactic of assassination, targeting key figures and attempting to demoralize Resistance groups by creating a sense of vulnerability and isolation. 

While Israel's terrorist attacks have claimed several high-ranking commanders and leaders since October 7, 2023, none have triggered such a massive propaganda blitz as the martyrdom of Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. His assassination, which took place on September 27, has unleashed an unprecedented wave of media manipulation, as the regime scrambles to exploit the tragedy in order to strike a blow at the heart of the Resistance and sow discord among its ranks.

The Israeli propaganda machine first swung into action by utilizing a former Hezbollah member, Mohammed Ali Al-Hussein, to claim that Iran had “sold” Nasrallah. 

“Write your will. Iran has betrayed you and your group. If you knew what deal Iran made in exchange for your head, everything would turn upside down. Those who showed you Al-Quds sold you out. I hope you realize everything before it’s too late,” the Lebanese cleric said during an interview with Saudi News channel Al-Arabiya, a day before the martyrdom of Nasrallah. 

After Nasrallah’s assassination, other Saudi media outlets joined Al-Arabiya in parading Al-Hussein, a Lebanese cleric who had a brief stint with Hezbollah during his youth and was arrested by Lebanese authorities for espionage on behalf of the Zionist regime a few years after leaving the group. Al-Hussein was granted Saudi citizenship in 2021 and has evident links to notorious terrorist groups, including the MKO, which bears the blood of over 17,000 Iranians on its hands. 

To further help create the illusion of a fractured Resistance, one that had been abandoned by Iran, Western media outlets, including Reuters, reported that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, had been moved to a “safe location” to avoid the same potential fate as Nasrallah.  

The narrative of a weakened and betrayed Resistance Israel was trying to pursue, however, crumbled on October 1st, when Iran executed Operation True Promise II, launching almost 200 ballistic missiles at Israeli positions in the occupied territories. A few days later, Ayatollah Khamenei stood before tens of thousands of Iranian citizens to lead the Friday prayers.

Nowadays, the Zionist regime, in collaboration with Western media and some Arab outlets, has shifted gears in its propaganda campaign. Their eyes are now set on the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds commander, desperately attempting to cast doubt on his whereabouts and health.

It was initially claimed that Brigadier General Esmail Qaani had been killed or injured in an attack in Beirut. That lie quickly lost its credibility and gave its place to even more ludicrous fabrications, with some Western and Arab media alleging the commander is under house arrest, and some claiming that General Qaani has suffered a heart attack during an interrogation by Iranian intelligence forces. All these allegations are being made without the provision of any sort of evidence. 

It seems that the well of fabrication and lies against the Resistance is not drying up anytime soon. But it is important for both Resistance fighters and West Asia citizens, to take unsubstantiated Western and Arab reports on Iran, its leaders, and its relations with other pro-Palestinian groups with a grain of salt. Media is a major tentacle of the Zionist regime, and considering how the war in Gaza has been covered in the past year, it appears that not much professionalism is left in journalists working with Israeli-aligned outlets.