Destruction of Israel in Iranian policy

The Islamic Republic of Iran's foreign policy doctrine includes calling for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish state. This position emerged from the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which transformed Iran–Israel relations from close partners during the Pahlavi monarchy to principal ideological adversaries. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, denounced Israel as an illegitimate "Zionist regime" and cut off diplomatic relations. Since then, this stance has been embedded in official rhetoric, military programs, state-sponsored education, and symbolic events such as Quds Day.

The rejection of Israel's legitimacy has remained consistent across both hardline and moderate Iranian leaderships. Supreme Leaders Ruhollah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei have both repeatedly referred to Israel as a "cancerous tumor" and publicly called for its elimination. Even reformist leaders and moderate clerics have supported this stance. While the Iranian regime maintains that its opposition is directed at Zionism rather than at Jews or Judaism, official propaganda has frequently blurred this distinction, at times incorporating Holocaust denial and invoking antisemitic tropes.

Iran’s anti-Israel policy is implemented through a centralized institutional framework led by the office of the Supreme Leader and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Operational activities are largely carried out via a network of allied non-state actors, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Palestinian territories, and other affiliated groups. These organizations receive sustained Iranian support in the form of funding, weapons, and training, and are collectively referred to by Iranian officials as the "Axis of Resistance." This proxy network enables Iran to exert influence across multiple fronts while posing an existential threat to Israel through asymmetric conflict. Additionally, statements by senior officials and the regime's hostility toward Israel have led many observers to view Iran's nuclear ambitions as part of a broader strategy to destroy Israel.