By Hajra Hashmi
Right after the short, intense 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran in mid-2025, an Iranian politician made a seemingly wild claim: that Israel had used supernatural forces such as jinns and Jewish magical artifacts to attack Tehran. Abdollah Ganji who is a senior advisor to the mayor of Tehran and an ex-editor of the Javan daily, sparked widespread debate when he made this assertion. He claimed that “several pieces of paper containing talismans with Jewish symbols” had been recovered in the aftermath of the conflict, and went on to link this to Iran’s long-standing official narratives about occult espionage by Israel and its Western allies.
On July 9th, Ganji had posted on X regarding the phenomenon, stating that it was sinister and suggested the use of ancient mystical practices to harm Iranians. He further said that this was tied to past statements made by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who warned of enemies comprised “of both jinn and humans” working together against Iran, echoing themes that have featured in official discourse for over a decade. It is pertinent to note that these claims are nothing new; since the Ahmadinejad era, Iran’s political and religious elites have time and again asserted that Israelis and Jews are consistent practitioners of sorcery, the dark arts and jinn manipulation, all used by them to turn battlegrounds into cosmic battlefields.
The claims of ‘jinnfare’ – a mix of the words ‘jinns’ and ‘warfare’ – gained traction when satellite imnages were recovered showing geometric formations such as Stars of David and triangular shaped carved into the desert near a central Iranian missile facility. Speculations on social media arose, stating that they were part of Israel’s supernatural warfare tactics. Iranian authorities later removed the markings, while Israel’s diplomatic channels mocked the narrative. A Mossad‑affiliated Persian‑language X account quipped: “Consuming drugs and conversing with jinn are not desirable traits in someone leading a country.”
Critics within Iran, such as Abdollah Ramezanzadeh who was the former government spokesman, are of the opinion that these comments divert attention from legitimate threats. Ramezanzadeh warned that speculating about jinns and mysticism risks attention being taken away from internal cracks in Iranian security or from Syria’s waning air defenses. More moderate religious authorities deemed the focus on occult symbolism ‘superstitions’ and argued that it creates a dialogue built on irrationality to serve political agendas by pointing the public to fantastical scapegoats rather than towards those accountable.
Iran’s narrative of Israel’s occult practices is not new. Iranian clerics over the past two decades have maintained that Israel’s intelligence operations are closely linked with occult rituals, black magic and Kabbalah dark arts. In 2023, Quranic scholar Valiyollah Naghipourfar claimed Iranian intelligence foiled Israeli espionage via jinn agents. In 2024, cleric Mustafa Karami invoked an “army of jinns” aiding Israeli assassinations of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders. There have even been declarations by figures like Ali Akbar Raeefipour that Mossad has formal ‘supernatural units’ which operate to wage psychic warfare and read minds.
The persistent focus on the supernatural narrative reinforces a deeper ideology; that the enemies of the regime are not just rivals at a geopolitical level but they also include forces that control evil, non-human powers. According to Iran’s worldview, black magic and jinn warfare are not just metaphorical in nature, but rather real tangible threats that could lead to the country’s defeat. However, many critics including modern Islamic theologians within Iran, are of the opinion that this ideology is a distortion of religious doctrines. According to them, true Islam acknowledges the existence of jinns and black magic, but does not support claims that these can be utilized by states or militaries as devices of warfare.
The Iranian leadership’s assertions of the use of jinn and black magic within modern warfare should not be deemed completely irrational as critics would like them to be. Rather, they should be taken as insight into the deep cultural and religious lenses through which Irans leaders view threats to their sovereignty where spiritual and psychological dimensions hold just as much power as military strength. Ever since the advent of Islam, Muslim civilizations have agreed that not only material means but also metaphysical ones can be manipulated in order to influence and destabilize nations. Keeping this in mind, the allegations of Israel’s exploitation of occult practices and supernatural entities should be seen as a legitimate issue based on Iran’s theological and historical perspective.
Unconventional methods of warfare are not new for Iran. It has faced cyberattacks, economic sanctions, assassinations, psychological campaigns, and disinformation campaigns. These methods were carefully constructed in a way that maligned the moral and spiritual fabric of Iranian society. Hence, when Iran’s leaders and scholars bring up the presence of Jewish talismans or highligh references from the Quran that talk of enemies and jinns being co-conspirators, these accusations are not unfounded. They point to the use of psychological warfare, including the strategic manipulation of national ideologies and symbolic provocations. Israel’s spiritual intimidation should not be brushed off as mere religious superstion.
Iran’s confrontation of both strategic and spiritual manipulations is a sign that it refuses to cede ground to its enemies. Critics and Western observers may think that Iranian references to the unseen are ridiculous, but for the general public of Iran, they are a reality and their leaders are dealing with it head on. Iran’s call to confront all dimensions of warfare, including those that target the soul of a nation, shows a clarity of purpose that many technocratic governments have lost. In defending its people against all forms of attack, seen and unseen, Iran affirms its commitment to protecting not only its borders but its beliefs, its identity, and its future.
About the Author
Hajra Hashmi is a Research Associate of International Law at IPRI. She has a Master’s degree in International Humanitarian Law (LLM) from Utrecht University and a Bachelor’s degree in International Law (LLB).