Comments by Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officers concerning Israel are loaded with vitriol and exaggeration, yet they cannot be ignored.

On Monday, IRGC deputy commander Hossein Salami lamented the recent Israeli airstrikes on IRGC forces in Syria. Salami proudly declared, “Our strategy is to wipe Israel off the world’s political geography and Israel seems to be approaching this reality by its evil actions.” A devout strategist in IRGC regional expansionism, the general continued, “We declare that if Israel does anything that leads to a new war, certainly it will be the kind of war that will result in their elimination, and the occupied territories will be retaken.” According to the Iranian hardliner news outlet which reported Salami’s comments, Fars, the general “also said that the Israelis will not even have a graveyard in Palestine to bury their dead citizens…”