Iranians, expatriates launch online campaign against attacks on Israel

In an unexpected turn of events, Iranian expatriates abroad appeared to condemn their country’s Islamic rulers for launching an unprecedented attack on Israel this weekend, which the United Nations says has pushed the Middle East closer to full-scale conflict. Pushed to the “brink”. ,

Iranian expatriates living in Western countries like the United States, Canada and Germany started a social media trend on Monday with the hashtag #IraniansStandWithIsrael.

Iran’s attack on Israel

Iran and Israel have been waging a shadow war for years, but on April 13, the conflict took a dangerous turn when the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack on the Jewish state.

The IRGC, elite forces loyal to Iran’s Islamic regime, responded to an attack on Iran’s consular annex in the Syrian capital Damascus on April 1, killing several commanders, including Mohammadreza Zahedi, the IRGC’s chief officer in the Levant. Area. The attack on Israel was aided by missile attacks by Iran-backed militia groups in Yemen and Lebanon.

Campaign against Khomeini regime

The social media campaign, which focused primarily on X (formerly Twitter), condemned the IRGC for its actions in the region.

A comprehensive assessment of social media interactions, including posts and trending hashtags, among Iranian expatriates on Platform

Many participants compared the IRGC’s attack to a war on the Iranian people.

“I had the opportunity to amplify the voice of the people in Iran: #IraniansStandWithIsrael. This is not a war of the Iranian people, this is an attack by the Islamic Republic,” writes one user.

Data from social media analytics sites shows that many Iranians living within the country also joined the campaign, posting commentary with the hashtags #IraniansStandWithIsrael and #FreeTheWorldFromIRGC. According to Talkwalker, of the 1,000 posts carrying the #IraniansStandWithIsrael campaign hashtag, about 40 percent of the posts came from Iran, 54.4 percent from the US and 3.2 percent from the UK.

The hashtag #FreeTheWorldFromIRGC garnered 3,500 posts over the past seven days, of which 47.5 percent of participants were from Iran, 37.3 percent from the US, and 6.6 percent from Germany. Both hashtags criticizing the Iranian regime were promoted by the same group of users.

People can be seen protesting against the Khomeini regime in Canada in a video shared by Iranian activist Salman Sima. Protesters held banners that read, “Iranians stand with Israel.” Activists also urged the Canadian government to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Salman’s Facebook profile shows that he is originally from Zanjan, Iran, and relocated to Toronto after escaping imprisonment, torture and a hunger strike in Iran.

“We don’t want war with Israel,” said another US-based Iranian activist.

In Hamburg, Germany, protesters held rallies displaying banners with the hashtag #IRGCterrorists, expressing support for Israel and opposition to Islamic authorities in Iran. There are also reports of rallies being organized in Paris to show solidarity with Israel.

Before this, Israel and Iran had been engaged in a shadow war for years – attacking each other’s assets without accepting responsibility. Those attacks have increased significantly during the current war in Gaza, following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on nearby Israeli communities last October.

Why are Israel and Iran fighting?

The two countries had friendly diplomatic relations until the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which ushered in a regime that made opposition to Israel a key part of its ideology. Iran does not recognize Israel’s right to exist and wants its elimination.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has previously described Israel as a “cancerous tumor” that “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed.” Citing Tehran’s inflammatory rhetoric, its support for proxy forces that have vowed to destroy Israel, and its funding and arming of Palestinian groups such as Hamas as well as the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah, Israel views Iran as an existential threat. Sees as a threat.