5 days ago
The Iranian Regime Spreads Antisemitism: Supreme Leader Khamenei Depicts Zionists And Jews As Rats; Senior Journalist Says Jews And Israel Are Using Witchcraft Against Iran
Introduction
Along with the classic antisemitic motifs, particularly Nazi motifs, used by Iranian speakers, such as comparing Jews or Zionists to rats, mice, and other vermin, or statements that Zionists are "humanoid" – like the Nazi designation of Jews as untermenschen, or "subhuman" – Iranian antisemitism is also fed by Shi'ite religious sources, incorporating elements from Islamic-Iranian folklore. Thus, for example, Iranian regime officials claim that the Jews and Zionists, as the enemies of Islam, practice witchcraft and use incantations, and enlist the supernatural to achieve their nefarious ends. These claims are part of the regime's cohesive ideological perspective, aimed at instilling a religious-political narrative according to which Jews and Israelis constitute not only political rivals, but dark, corrupt, and Satanic forces.
On July 17, 2025, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted on his X account an antisemitic AI-generated graphic depicting Israeli Jewish civilians and soldiers in a stormy sea clinging for dear life to a sinking coffin wrapped in an American flag, as Iranian missiles rain down upon them.
A few days previously, Abdollah Ganji, a journalist affiliated with Iran's ideological circles and advisor to Tehran Mayor Ali Reza Zakani posted on his X account an antisemitic message stating that the Jews and Israel are using witchcraft and demons in a war against Iran. Ganji is also former editor in chief of the IRGC-affiliated Javan daily as well as of the Hamshahri Tehran newspaper, which has the widest circulation in all Iran. His post went viral, with over 1.2 million views.
Manifestations Of Iranian Antisemitism: Zionists Depicted As Rats And Employing Witchcraft
The age-old accusation that the Jews, and by extension the Israelis, use witchcraft and magic powers to achieve their goals, is widespread throughout the Iranian regime and its religious establishment, and continues to reverberate across all sectors in Iran.
The most prominent official reiterating this accusation is Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; he validated this in statements on March 22, 2020 when he said: "There are enemies who are demons and enemies who are human – and they are aiding one another."[1]
Close associates of Khamenei have claimed that the Jews have supernatural abilities that they are using against Iran. For example, Mehdi Taeb, director of the Ammar Headquarters think tank that advises Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said in 2013 that the Jews are the most powerful sorcerers in the world and are using their powers to attack Iran.[2] That same year, the Reza News website, which is affiliated with the Howz-e Ilmiyya seminary that trains the regime's Shi'ite clerics, published an article stating that the Jews' supernatural powers are passed down from generation to generation with the aim of controlling the world, nature, and even God's decisions.[3]
This Iranian Shi'ite narrative provides a profound ideological justification for enmity towards Israel and for the call to destroy it, shaping this as a religious and moral obligation. In this way, demonizing Israel and the Jews becomes an integral part of the struggle led by Iran and the resistance front that present themselves as emissaries of divine justice fighting the forces of evil until the "Zionist entity" is eradicated.[4]
Below are translations of the AI-generated graphic posted on X by Khamenei and of the X post by journalist Abdollah Ganji about the Jews and Israel using witchcraft and demons against Iran.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's Post: Israelis As Rats On A Sinking U.S. Coffin
Khamenei's July 17, 2025 post on X, of a graphic depicting Israeli Jewish civilians and soldiers as rats holding on to a coffin wrapped in an American flag sinking in a stormy sea as Iranian missiles rain down on them included a quote from a speech by Khamenei the previous day.
Khamenei's post ( July 17, 2025)
He had said: "When [Iran's] blow is mighty, [it means] that we have entered the war with force. The clear proof of this is that the Zionist regime, the opposing side in the war, was forced to turn to America for help. Had it [the Zionist regime] not broken and fallen to the ground, had it not needed (help), had it been able to defend itself, it would not have appealed to America like that. It appealed to America – that is, it understood that it could not deal with the Islamic Republic [of Iran]. And also in the matter of America – it was the same. Even when America attacked, our retaliatory blow struck it in a very sensitive [place]..."[5]
Journalist Abdollah Ganji: "Several Sheets Of Paper Were Found In The Streets Of Tehran – They Were Witchcraft With Jewish Symbols"
Ganji wrote on X on July 9, 2025: "A strange phenomenon! After the recent war, several sheets of paper were found in the streets of Tehran – they were witchcraft with Jewish symbols.
"Also, in the first year of the Gaza war, a report was leaked about [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu's meeting with mysticism experts.
"A few years ago, Supreme Leader [Khamenei] said that hostile countries and Western and Hebrew intelligence services are using the occult and demons for espionage purposes."[6]
July 9, 2025
* Ayelet Savyon is Director of the MEMRI Iran Media Project; N. Katirachi is a Research Fellow at MEMRI.
