On Saturday, a Twitter account purported to be affiliated with the Iranian regime threatened to blow up Israel’s Dimona facility. Of course, it remains up on the social media platform.
The account is ostensibly run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has over 12,000 followers.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the group tweeted: “Then on the day we [God] will deal you the fiercest blow. We will surely inflict punishment,” in Arabic on Christmas Eve citing a quote from the Koran, adding the hashtag “Dimona.”
On Christmas Day, the account tweeted a video that appeared to show launched missiles with the caption: “Attack on the Israeli Center for the Development of Weapons for Mass Destruction as part of a joint exercise "The Great Prophet-17.”
The IRGC has a history of threatening violence against Israel.
The Post also noted that, back on December 13, the IRGC account tweeted: "In the event of foolishness on the part of the Zionist regime, the Islamic Republic of Iran is no longer ready to destroy Tel Aviv and Haifa, but to liberate holy Quds. If the security of the holy land of Iran is compromised, no one will taste the moment of security, whether those who are at 1,000 km or at 10,000 km.“ Quds is the Arabic name for the capital city of Israel, Jerusalem.
Despite the fact that threats of violence are a violation of Twitter’s Terms of Service, as of Saturday evening the account is still active on Twitter.
“You may not threaten violence against an individual or a group of people,” the Terms stated. “We also prohibit the glorification of violence.”
Sheina Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who fled the Islamic Republic, told The Post that the threats are legitimate. “An army is supposed to protect and defend the people and the soil of its country but I don’s sic see any sign of my country in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, no name of Iran or the Iranian people is even mentioned in it.” she said.
She added that the group’s priority is the “complete destruction of Israel.”
“Why should the IRGC publish its statements mostly in Arabic while the official language of Iran is Persian and most of the people in Iran speak and everyone understands Persian? Because it’s talking to its proxies like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Hashd al Shabi and the other entities under its commands not the Iranian people,” she continued. “The IRGC’s priority is the complete destruction of Israel and to follow Khomeini’s Ideology instead of defending its own people.”
