Iranian Sunni Cleric Blasts "Death to Israel" Policy

Iran's most prominent Sunni cleric has dismissed the Islamic Republic’s policy of seeking the destruction of Israel, as thousands of people took to the streets of Iranian cities in a show of support for Palestinians amid a bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas militants.

"Muslims are incapable of such an endeavor, so why persist with such an impractical pursuit?" Molavi Abdulhamid, the outspoken Sunni Friday prayer leader of the southeastern city of Zahedan, said in his Friday sermon on October 13. 

The 76-year-old cleric pointed out that, after more than 70 years of conflict over the creation of Israel, Muslims and Jews will have to find a way to live side by side.

He voiced support for "the establishment of two independent governments in the region, with a Palestinian government centered in Jerusalem."

Meanwhile, thousands of people took to the streets of Tehran after Friday prayers, chanting "Death to Israel," "Death to America," "Israel will be doomed" and "Palestine will be the conqueror."

Similar rallies were held in other cities across Iran, where flags of the United States and Israel were burned.

The destruction of Israel is normalized in Iranian political parlance, with government officials, military commanders and clerics, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, routinely calling for the destruction of Israel.

The Islamic Republic emblazons “Death to Israel” on banners in official processions and displays ballistic missiles with genocidal slogans against Israel in Hebrew.

Last month, the spokesman for the Defense Ministry hailed the capabilities of Iran’s “Israel-hitting missiles,” referring to a locally-developed long-range surface-to-air system.

In June, authorities in Tehran put up banners in the streets showing what officials described as Iran’s first domestically-produced hypersonic ballistic missile and with Arabic and Hebrew captions reading "400 seconds...to Tel Aviv."