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..."

Salami's threats represent a real hatred, but are mostly for domestic consumption. After all, the kind of war he talks about would actually achieve the worse possible strategic outcome for the hardliners, imploding the hardliners' central theological narrative — that God's devotion to the revolutionary faithful will bring a resounding victory. For Israeli military and intelligence services would likely respond to any serious provocation by smashing IRGC missile units in Syria and Lebanon, killing IRGC leaders and logistical officers in the process. If necessary, they would totally destroy Bashar Assad's air defense network (including any Russian enablers), and even strike targets across Iran.

Fortunately, the Iranians know this. Which is why they have avoided an overt escalation against Israel. They know that the odds are manifestly against them. Instead, the hardliners choose to bide their time by usurping democratic power across the Middle East to their own interests. Their delusional hope, driven by theology more than anything else, is that God will eventually deliver them the means to effect their victory. But as I say, our attention to these threats remains important. They cannot win a full-scale war with Israel or our allies, but the IRGC has the means and intent to cause great suffering. And as the regime faces an escalating economic strike, the hardliners will grow more hostile towards more moderate elements that pursue detente with the West.

The hardliners are patient. They are pursuing weapons that would allow for an existential showdown with Israel and ultimately, the United States. That threat demands action. More-moderate Iranian elements should be cultivated, but the hardliners must be constrained relentlessly, because the only alternatives, in the end, are mushroom clouds over either Tehran or Jerusalem.