Tehran backs proxy terror groups Hezbollah and the Houthis
Your editorial opinion suggesting Iran has claimed the moral high ground in the current Middle Eastern conflict was both astonishing and deeply concerning (“Time to cool tensions in the Middle East”, August 6). Such a stance reveals a troubling misunderstanding of crucial facts and context.
On July 27, 12 innocent Israeli Druze children, playing football near their homes, were killed by a Hezbollah rocket attack, with another 29 injured. Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy terror group. It has launched over 6,000 missiles into Israel since October 7. To characterise Iran as “hogging the high ground” when its proxy murders children is not just misguided — it’s morally indefensible.
The editorial describes the elimination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in response as an “extreme form of provocation” or “tantamount to war”. This framing ignores the broader context. It is not his death in Iran that started a war. In fact, Haniyeh started the war when he orchestrated the October 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 civilians and took 250 hostages. Among them is five-year-old Ariel Bibas, whose recent birthday marked 304 days in captivity. The conflict Haniyeh initiated from the comfort of his home in Doha has brought immense suffering to both Israelis and Palestinians.
Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy, has been launching missiles at Israel almost daily since October 7, making Business Day’s characterisation of a recent Iranian rocket attack as “unprecedented” puzzling. It’s only due to Israel’s advanced defence systems that these repeated attacks rarely prove fatal. This technological advantage does not justify or diminish the gravity of Iran’s actions.
Moreover, Iran’s destabilising influence extends beyond Israel’s borders. It supports the Houthis in Yemen whose rocket attacks have disrupted global trade in the Red Sea, thus increasing shipping costs and, by extension, the price of imported goods — issues that directly impact the businesses Business Day reports on.
In July a Houthi drone strike on Tel Aviv resulted in a civilian casualty, further illustrating the far-reaching consequences of Iran’s proxy warfare.
While one may choose to support Iran’s geopolitical stance, suggesting it has “hogged the moral high ground” while sponsoring terror groups that destabilise the Middle East, attempt to annihilate Israel, disrupt global commerce and kill innocent children is a grave misrepresentation of facts.
It’s disappointing to see a leading business publication in SA fall short of the rigorous analysis and factual accuracy its readers deserve. Business Day should reconsider its position and engage more deeply with the complexities of this conflict. Its readers — and the truth — deserve nothing less.
