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‘Netanyahu’s Gift’ – Iranians and Arabs celebrate the killing of senior Iranian commander

An Iranian living in the UK called Zahedi’s killing ‘Netanyahu’s gift.’

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Despite threats from Iran to retaliate against Israel after the killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commander General Mohammed Reza Zahedi, many Iranians and Arabs, far from being upset about this “loss,” are celebrating his demise and mocking the late officer on social media.

Many accounts welcoming the news of the IRGC commander’s death were from those who had been exiled or fled persecution as well as people posting from anonymous accounts in Persian and Arabic.

Iranians opposed to Zahedi pointed out the killing happened on Sizdah Bedar, an Iranian holiday.

An Iranian influencer in the UK,  Pouria Zeraati, said the killing of Zahedi was “Netanyahu’s gift for Sizdah Bedar” adding: “It is impossible to ignore the news of the terrorists turned to powder!”

Although Israel has not claimed responsibility for the strike that killed the IRGC commander, Iran identified Israel as responsible and has sworn to retaliate.

When asked about Israel’s possible role in the death of Zahedi, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “I’m not going to comment on that strike but I want to tell you that in the last six months, Iran is making this region escalate. She’s the main actor.”

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Tara Niazi, an Iranian blogger, posted an image of Sizdah Bedar holiday patties and a photo of Zahedi with a comment, “Did anyone say patties?”

Iranian blogger CiCi Khanoom displayed a picture of Zahedi and mocking his military rank, wrote “The supreme patty, Mohammad Reza Zahedi.”

Much of the mockery was directed at attempts by Iran’s government to interfere with the celebration of Sizdah Bedar which involves people congregating in parks close to water and a relaxation of usual gender segregation rules between boys and girls.

Because Sizdah Bedar, marking the end of the new year holiday, Nowruz, coincides with Ramadan this year, the Iranian government sought to suppress Sizdah Bedar celebrations.

In response to this, a Telegram account inside Iran called “Freedom Messenger” posted, “While you were busy harassing the people so no one celebrates Sizdah Bedar in parks, Israel hit the IR’s embassy in Damascus.”

They added, “Hey Arzeshi,” an insult used to refer to loyalists of Iran’s regime, “you don’t need to go to Gaza anymore, Gaza is coming after you.”

In addition to Iranian social media posters celebrating Zahedi’s death, there were many social media posts in Arabic in the same vein.

An Iraqi Sunni user under the moniker “Umm Hazem News” wrote about Zahedi, “To hell, son of a dog. Today he will break his fast in the depths of hell with Qasim Kebab [Soleimani] and Abu Mandi Al-Muhandis, an Iraqi commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) who was also assassinated by the US along with Soleimani.”

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Concerning Zehdi’s death, Yemeni American activist Majda Al-Haddad wrote “Thank you Israel!”