In the new war against the Islamic regime in Iran, Israel and America have eliminated the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. As significant as the assassination is itself, the reactions to it are also of great importance.

Iranians have celebrated Khamenei’s death, especially in the diaspora where they are free to march without fearing death. Videos of Iranians thanking Trump or Netanyahu, and dancing to YMCA have quickly spread over social media. It’s been reported that while some Iranians inside the country mourned the ayatollah’s death, many took to the streets celebrating it. Videos have also surfaced of Iranians joyfully dancing in the streets of Iran over the news. The reality is that the overwhelmingly majority of Iranians hate the Islamic regime and many are happy to see Khamenei go.

Why would so many Iranians celebrate the assassination of the leader of their country? Because this leader was a tyrannical terrorist whose government spent its time and resources suppressing Iranians and waging a proxy war against Israel (chs. 3-4).

Before this war, the Islamic regime massacred thousands of its citizens who protested its tyrannical rule, with estimates saying up to tens of thousands have been killed. President Trump recently said much more than 35,000 Iranians were slaughtered by the regime. No wonder why so many Iranians want to see the regime go.

However, whilst the Iranian people celebrated the death of the brutal dictator who has oppressed their nation for so long, others wept and mourned. This includes people in the West.

In Australia, several mosques held memorial services for Khamenei. There, Islamic preachers referred to Khamenei as an “inspiration,” “a noble man,” and urged their followers to not give up the fight.

What fight? The fight of the Islamic regime includes multiple goals, from the destruction of Israel to ushering in the Mahdi, an Islamic figure who some Shias believe will return and establish Islamic rule. With these Islamic preachers encouraging their followers to continue this fight, we can expect a high chance of increased jihad violence.

For example, in America, which has also seen jihad sympathisers mourn Khamenei’s death, a jihadi recently murdered two people in a shooting.

“The shooter, who was killed by police, was wearing a sweatshirt that said “Property of Allah” and another shirt with an Iranian flag design, a law enforcement official told multiple US outlets.”

This raises the possibility that this jihadi committed his terrorist attack, not only to slaughter the infidel, but to avenge the regime’s dead leader. Meanwhile, jihadist supporting preachers and their like honour Khamenei as a martyr.

Interestingly, many of these regime supporters may not even be Iranian. Speaking of the memorial services held by Shia mosques in Australia, Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist who was imprisoned in Iran for 804 days, said:

“I would say that almost all of these people aren’t Iranians, they’re almost Shia-mosques frequented by non-Iranian, Shia-Muslims who have their own relationship with Iran.”

These revelations may also add to concerns that have been raised about mass Islamic migration into Western nations. While it’s true that the majority of Muslims are not terrorists, there are legitimate concerns about the compatibility of the values belonging to Western and Islamic cultures. Of course, those who do dare to speak of these issues are labelled “far-right bigots” and “Islamophobes.”

The West should see the recent wave of support for Khamenei in Islamic institutions in their own countries as yet another piece of evidence of the incompatibility between Islamic and Western cultures. Meanwhile, over in the Middle East, hopefully we will see a free Iran soon, a united and prosperous Iran with no jihadist rule. May God bless and protect the Iranians.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)