Telegram channels affiliated with Iran-backed militias in Iraq published posters over last week threatening Israeli interests, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute’s Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (MEMRI-JTTM).
Sabreen News, a Telegram channel linked with Iraqi Shi’ite paramilitary group Asa’ib Ahl Al-Haq, published a poster on April 14 celebrating the recent attack on an Israeli-owned cargo ship off the coast of the United Arab Emirates. The MV Hyperion Ray was struck near the Emirate of Fujairah.
The poster showed the vessel sinking after being cut in two by “Zulfiqar,” the famed sword of Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib, a common motif among Shi’ites, according to JTTM.
The text stated: “Ask your grandfather about Thoalfkar [i.e., Zulfiqar] swords.” This seems to be a reference to the Battle of Khaybar of 628 C.E., in which Imam Ali Bin Talib fought the Jews.
The Hyperion Ray suffered minor damage in the attack.
On April 13, the day of the attack on the Israeli vessel, another pro-Iran Telegram channel, called Jihad Brothers Electronic Team, celebrated the attack and published a poster of a missile flying past a boat with the text: “What lies ahead is graver.”
Also on April 13, a Telegram channel affiliated with the Hezbollah Brigades claimed that the group had attacked an intelligence and operations center “run by the Israeli Mossad” in northern Iraq and that several Israeli soldiers had been killed or wounded.
However, the Kurdistan Regional Government rejected reports that a Mossad base was attacked in northern Iraq.
