Larijani’s Last Words

Ali Larijani, who up until recently was secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Tuesday. This was a major loss for Iran’s Islamic regime, as Larijani was widely reputed to be the de facto man in charge after the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the ongoing absence of his putative successor, nepo baby Mojtaba Khamenei.

The day before he was killed, Larijani tried to turn around the Islamic Republic’s sagging fortunes with an appeal to the Muslim nations of the world to rally to its aid in this hour of its deepest crisis. The world’s Muslim nations, for a variety of reasons, are not likely to respond favorably. Nevertheless, Larijani’s message illuminates how the leaders of the Islamic Republic, and many others around the world, view the conflict with the U.S. and Israel. Western authorities continue to ignore this perspective at their own peril; ultimately, Sun Tzu’s adage that one must know one’s enemy in order to defeat him, will prove true.

Larijani wrote:

Six-Point Letter by Ali Larijani Addressed to the Muslims of the World and Islamic Governments

Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council

In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

To the Muslims of the world and the governments of Islamic countries,

1. Iran was confronted with a deceptive aggression by the American–Zionist axis while negotiations were still underway. The objective of this aggression was the disintegration of Iran. They martyred the great and self-sacrificing Leader of the Islamic Revolution, as well as a number of ordinary citizens and military commanders. Consequently, they were met with the national and Islamic resistance of the Iranian people.

This is disingenuous victimhood posturing of the kind we see so very much of from jihadis and their allies and enablers in the West, as well as from the jihadis in Gaza. The Islamic Republic of Iran could never have been counted upon to keep any agreement it made with the U.S. It violated the terms of the Obama nuclear deal even though those terms were extremely favorable to it.

2. You are aware that—except for a few rare cases, and even then only at the political level—none of the Islamic governments came to the assistance of the Iranian nation. Nevertheless, the Iranian people, with firm determination, suppressed the malicious enemy in such a way that today the enemy does not know how to escape this strategic impasse.

Larijani doesn’t mention the fact that those Islamic governments are Sunni and the Islamic Republic of Iran is Shi’ite. Nor does he have anything to say about the fact that Iran had behaved aggressively toward many Sunni states in the region. It has had a tense relationship with Saudi Arabia since the Islamic revolution in Iran; it claims Bahrain as a province of Iran, and other states in the region have reason to fear and dislike Iran’s Islamic regime as well.

3. Iran will continue along the path of resistance against the greater and lesser Satans (the United States and Israel). However, is the conduct of Islamic governments not in contradiction with the saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who stated: “If you do not respond to the cry of a Muslim, you are not a Muslim.” What kind of Islam is this?

This illustrates once again how, for the Islamic Republic, its conflict with the U.S. and Israel is all about Islam. If those two countries were Shi’ite Muslim states, there would be no conflict with Iran at all. And note how Larijani casts Iran’s aggression against both as “resistance,” just as Hamas portrays its aggression against Israel.

4. Some countries have even gone further and declared that because Iran targeted American bases and the interests of the United States and Israel in those countries, Iran has therefore become their enemy. Should Iran remain idle while attacks are launched against it from American bases located in your countries? These are mere pretexts. On one side of today’s confrontation stand the United States and Israel; on the other side stand Muslim Iran and the forces of resistance. Which side are you on?

5. Reflect on the future of the Islamic world. You know well that the United States will show you no loyalty, and that Israel is your enemy. Take a moment to think about yourselves and the future of the region. Iran seeks your well-being and has no intention of dominating you.

6. The unity of the Islamic Ummah, with all its strength, can ensure and guarantee security, progress, and independence for all nations.

For one side, this is a religious war from start to finish, between Islam and non-Muslims. The other side does all it can to pretend that is not the case. As as this denial and willful ignorance continues, so also will this religious war.