As the wildfires continue to rage in Los Angeles and its environs, Iranian regime officials and regime-affiliated media are overjoyed at the scope of the destruction. They are saying that the U.S. is now paying the price for its responsibility for the war in Gaza against the Palestinian people, and that this is the Palestinian revenge for the destruction in Gaza sown by the U.S. via its support for Israel.
The following are examples of trends in the coverage of the wildfires in the regime mouthpiece Kayhan, in a cover photo published by the Tasnim news agency which is affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that uses symbols of the Islamic revolution against the Great Satan – i.e. the U.S. – under the heading "The Angel Has Flown Off, And The Satan [The U.S.] Is Burning," and a clip from Iranian TV in which a prominent guest on a show states that "America is paying the price for the bombs dropped on Gaza."
Ayatollah Rasoul Falahati, Khamenei's Representative In Gilan: "The Terrible Fire In America Is The Fire Of God's Vengeance"
Ayatollah Rasoul Falahati, the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Iran's northern province of Gilan, said on January 11 that "the current fires are God's vengeance, because also previously, in the affair of the Tabas desert [i.e. the failed April 1980 U.S. Operation Eagle Claw aimed at freeing the American hostages held in Tehran following the November 1979 Islamic Revolution] and the Tabas sandstorm was a divine agent that exposed the American hands and the conspiracy they arranged in this country.
Ayatollah Rassoul Falahati (Source: Mehr, Iran, January 11, 2025)
"The fire [in Los Angeles] is the fire of the hatred and the curse of the oppressed and strong women, children, and young people of Gaza who were unjustly killed, and it has struck the Americans. While America had all the conditions [necessary] to put out the fire, it did not succeed in doing so, which is amazing. God has again shown his might and vengeance to humanity, and this fire was His vengeance against the American leaders. Therefore, it is via this fire that God has shown His infinite and eternal might to humanity, when he avenged the cry of the oppressed. The terrible fire in America is the fire of God's vengeance. A city the size of Gaza has burned, and all its residents were America's capitalists.
"We do not like it when people are burned in fire, but God sits in the place of justice and takes vengeance for the oppressed against the oppressor in order to remind man that [the oppressor] is helpless despite all his strength, against the might of God, when the strength of the Zionists lies in dropping bombs on the defenseless women and children of Palestine and Lebanon..."[1]
MEMRI TV Clip: America Is Paying The Price For Its Crimes Against The Palestinian People
Iranian foreign affairs analyst Mohammad Ghaderi discussed the Los Angeles fires on Iran's Ofogh TV on January 11, 2025. Saying that he does not want to go so far as to suggest that the Los Angeles fires are karma for Gaza, he stressed that is impossible to ignore the money that the U.S. is paying for the bombs that are being dropped on Gaza. Show host Mohammad Reza Bagheri responded that the reason for the weakness and incompetence in fighting the fires is that instead of spending the money at home for its own needs, the U.S. has sent bombs and money to the "child-killing Israelis."
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, click here or below:
Kayhan Daily: "The Cry Of The Children And Mothers Of Gaza Has Finally Struck America – California Is Besieged By Fire And Smoke"
On its front page, the regime mouthpiece Kayhan daily wrote, also on January 11, that the U.S. and Israel had carried out loathsome crimes against the Palestinian people and that "the cry of the children and mothers of Gaza has finally struck America, and it is now paying the price for its crimes."
The following are the main points of Kayhan's front-page article:
"The cry of the children and mothers of Gaza has finally struck America. Within four days, the biggest fire in the history of the state of California has burned the city of Los Angeles. $150 billion dollars of damage has been caused to the city as of this writing, and this is while America has helped the Zionist regime with $30 billion to destroy Gaza!
"As the famous saying from Persian literature goes, 'he who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind." A recent example of this saying is today's California fires. For the past 15 months, America created apocalyptic scenes in Gaza with its military and economic support for the Zionist regime.
"In Gaza, Israel has bombed, and is bombing, homes, schools, mosques, clinics, and hospitals. But the cry of the oppressed children of Gaza and of the Palestinian mothers has finally struck America, such that a similar situation prevails in California and in the city of Los Angeles. James Woods, the American actor who called for the 'ultimate killing of the residents of Gaza' [sic], wept like a child in a CNN interview after his home burned..."[2]
Kayhan front page article, January 11,2025 (Kayhan.ir/fa/issue/3177/1)
IRGC-Affiliated Tasnim News Agency: "Gaza's Divine Retribution Against Those Who Destroyed The Homes Of The Palestinians"
On the cover page of its January 11, 2025 issue, No. 833, Vitrina magazine, a publication of the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency, linked the Los Angeles fires to the destruction in Gaza. It wrote on the image: "The vengeance of the God of Gaza against those who destroyed the Palestinian homes."
The following is a translation of the text on the Vitrina cover page:
Across top: "Looting In The Burned City Of Los Angeles"
Center: "The Angel Has Flown Off, And The Satan [The U.S.] Is Burning"
"Destruction of at least 10,000 homes, losses of at least $150 billion are only part of the damage caused by the unprecedented fires in California and Los Angeles. The homes of those who destroyed the homes of the residents of Gaza and Lebanon were themselves destroyed."
"The vengeance of the God of Gaza against those who destroyed the Palestinian homes."
"The story of Hollywood was also burned by the strength of America's policy"
"Trump: The Los Angeles fires stem from Biden's administrative failure"
"The damage of the Los Angeles fires totals at least $150 billion."[3]
