An analysis written Thursday by Lt. Col. Michael Segall, a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs, documents the rhetorical support Iran has given to Hamas’s rocket war against Israel.

Segall explains that with no Arab states stepping forward to offer support for Hamas, Iran has stepped into the vacuum.

Iran has long been trying to fill the Arab void that has emerged. As in the past, Iran is now springing to the aid of Hamas despite the tension between them that stems from the crisis in Syria. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei keeps attacking the “Zionist regime” and supporting the Palestinians with calls to come to their assistance.1 President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, continues to maintain a low media profile with regard to the military operation.

As the operation continues, activity on social networks, some of which are identified with the IRGC, is intensifying, glorifying the role of Iran in general and of the IRGC in particular in upgrading the Palestinian terror organizations’ ability to launch rockets “into the heart of the cities in Israel.” A Twitter account identified with the IRGC proclaimed, “Oh my senior commander, the shahid Hassan Tehrani, Fajr missiles are falling on Tel Aviv every morning”; and “the shahid Tehrani Moghaddam, father of the missile program of the Revolutionary Guard, is the one who bombarded Ben-Gurion Airport.”

Segall explains that “Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam … is considered the ‘father of Iran’s missile program'” who “was killed when an IRGC ammunition warehouse exploded on November 12, 2011.”

Israel’s March interception of the Klos C – a ship laden with illegal weapons originating in Iran – once again focused attention on  Iran’s role as “the leading weapons smuggler in the Middle East.” A recent United Nations report tied Iran to Hamas’s rebuilt arsenal that is “capable of reaching most of Israel.”

[Photo: Lenziran Newsvideo / YouTube ]