Two reports which appeared in the ‘updates’ section of the BBC News website’s ‘Middle East’ page (though not on the page itself) on June 21st relate to the same story.
In a report headlined “Israel says it killed Iran’s military co-ordinator with Hamas” by Frances Mao readers were told that: [emphasis added]
“Israel says it has killed a senior Iranian commander who helped plan the Hamas 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, in a strike on Saturday on the city of Qom.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the killing of Saeed Izadi marked a key point in the conflict. He was “one of the orchestrators” of the attack, which killed about 1,200 people and saw many others taken to Gaza as hostages, said IDF chief Eyal Zamir.
“The blood of thousands of Israelis is on his hands,” he said on Saturday, calling it a “tremendous intelligence and operational achievement.”
Iran did not report Mr Izadi’s killing and has previously denied involvement in Hamas’s attack.”
Given the decision to include that denial of Iranian involvement in the October 7th massacre, the question of what the BBC did choose to tell its audiences about Saeed Izadi and his activities is obviously all the more relevant. In addition to the above quotes from the IDF chief of staff, Mao had the following to add:
“He had been in charge of the Palestine Corps of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’s (IRGC) Quds Force, responsible for handling ties with the Palestinian armed groups.
He was reportedly instrumental in arming and financing Hamas, and had been responsible for military co-ordination between senior IRGC commanders and Hamas leaders, the IDF said.
In April 2024, Mr Izadi narrowly survived an Israeli air strike targeting the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria – an attack that killed several high-ranking Quds Force commanders.”
As was the case in BBC content at the time, Mao promoted the Iranian claim that the building struck on April 1st 2024 was “the Iranian consulate in Damascus”.
The second report on the same topic is headlined “Targeting of Quds Force shows growing breach in Iranian intelligence security” and credited to Jiyar Gol. The information about Izadi provided in that report includes a link to Mao’s article and reads as follows:
“Izadi, a senior Quds Force commander responsible for coordination with Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, was reportedly killed in an apartment in the Shia holy city of Qom. […]
Izadi played a central role in co-ordinating Tehran’s support for Palestinian armed groups and was reportedly instrumental in arming and financing Hamas, the Palestinian armed group which carried out the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel. […]
Izadi previously narrowly survived an Israeli air strike in April 2024 that targeted the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria – an attack that killed several high-ranking Quds Force commanders.”
Nearly six months before these two articles were written the ITIC had published a report titled “Activities of Saeed Izadi, Head of the Qods Forces’ “Palestine Branch,” Reflected in Captured Documents”.
“Hamas documents seized by the IDF during the Gaza Strip War exposed Izadi’s critical role in building the “resistance axis” in accordance with the plans of former Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani, under Iranian leadership and in partnership with Hezbollah, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
The documents showed how over the years Izadi became a key figure in orchestrating Hamas decisions, influenced its leaders and was involved in strategic moves leading up to the October 7, 2023 attack and massacre. […]
Saeed Izadi played an important role in coordinating “resistance axis” elements in preparation for the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack and massacre. Following the conclusion of Operation Sword of Jerusalem (Operation Guardian of the Walls, May 2021), the axis partners began preparing for the “great campaign” which would bring about Israel’s defeat.” [emphasis added]
Audiences were not informed in either of the BBC’s two reports that Izadi – who had orchestrated a rocket attack from Syria on northern Israel in August 2015 – was designated by the US in 2019 and by the UK in December 2023 or that in 2018, Israel’s ambassador to the UN sent a letter to top UN officials which included the following:
“The increasing cooperation between Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran constitutes a major threat not only to Israel, but also to the stability and security of the entire region. Some of this cooperation has been publicized in pre-announced meetings of high-ranking operatives and statements of mutual support.
It is led by Saleh al-Arouri, the Lebanon-based deputy head of the Politburo of Hamas, and Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestinian branch of the Iranian Al Quds Force, both of whom have made no attempt to conceal the growing coordination between Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas.”
In January 2019 Israel’s UN ambassador warned the UN Security Council that Iran was funding terrorism in Judea and Samaria, mentioning Izadi by name. In April 2023 Israeli security forces arrested two Palestinians who had been recruited by Izadi’s Palestinian Division of the IRGC-QF.
Documents released by the IDF following Izadi’s elimination show that his role in financing Hamas terrorism and supplying weapons continued after October 7th 2023. As reported by the Jerusalem Post:
“According to the military, the documents found at Hamas’s underground command center beneath Khan Yunis’s European Hospital “clearly indicate that in recent months, the leadership of Hamas’s military wing maintained its ties with Saeed Izadi, their patron in Iran, who was eliminated overnight.”
The correspondence between Sinwar and Izadi revolves around a “Tufan 1” project, under which the killed IRGC commander attempted to transfer weapons, valued at what the IDF said was some $21 million, from Iran to the Gaza Strip.
In addition, documents show the planned transfer of more weaponry valued at around $25 m. under the project name “Tufan 2.””
Both these BBC reports also relate to an additional strike on another IRGC-QF operative on the same day. Mao told her readers that:
“Israel later on Saturday also said it had killed another Quds Force commander, Behnam Shahriyari, in a drone strike as he was travelling in a car through western Iran.
He had been responsible for transporting missiles and rockets to Iran’s proxy groups across the region, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, said the IDF.”
Gol reported that:
“Shahryari, the head of Unit 190 – responsible for smuggling weapons and funds to Iran’s regional proxies – was assassinated by a drone strike while traveling by car in western Iran.”
Readers were not informed that Shahryari was sanctioned by the US, the UK and the EU or that his activities went back years and – as reported by the Alma Center – extended beyond the Middle East.
“In recent years, Unit 190 has been active in transferring weapons and funds to Shiite militias in Iraq and Syria, to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to the Houthis in Yemen, to Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza and the West Bank, to the Polisario Front in Western Sahara, to groups and militias in Sudan and the Horn of Africa, to various forces in Asia, Venezuela in Central America, and more. The unit employs various methods designed to disguise both the smuggled weapons and their connection to Iran. These include, among others, the use of front companies (such as Liner Transport Kish and Behnam Shahriyari Trading Company), civilian infrastructure and companies, third-party intermediaries, falsified records, and other tactics. The smuggling routes vary and are conducted by air, sea, and land.”
Clearly neither of these two reports concerning the elimination of senior IRGC-QF figures provides BBC audiences with the “range and depth of analysis” needed in order to “engage fully” with the story and to understand the redundancy of Iranian regime denials which the BBC chooses to uncritically promote.
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Most of the media is reporting the 12-day thrashing of the schoolyard blowhard bully mullahs like the funeral of a close friend.
They don’t seem to reflect that the balance of power in the entire ME has changed. No-one is scared of the Iran regime any more. The IRCG has been revealed to be utterly incompetent. Whether it’s nuke programme (long denied by much of the media) is totally obliterated or only partly misses the point. Israel can repeat the dose whenever it wants.
A country like Lebanon can finally look forward to a brighter future.