Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have both condemned US President Donald Trump's move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Their condemnations were to be expected. However, they did not offer a window into how Iran would likely respond to such a move. At moments like these, it is helpful to study the reaction of influential analysts, who will write and speak with more details.
Sa’adollah Zaeri, an analyst who often writes for hard-line Kayhan newspaper and is believed to be linked ideologically to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), wrote that Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has certain advantages. “This situation in reality under these conditions makes Iran’s work in forming a resistance front with a focus on defending Palestine easier,” Zaeri wrote in Tasnim News Agency.