The story: Amid the escalating violence in Israel and Palestine, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is calling on Palestinians to boost their defenses and force Israel into “surrender.” The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is also lining up in support of the Hamas movement, encouraging its firing of rockets into Israel as a means of “resistance.” Meanwhile, the habitual ire reserved for some Arab monarchies seen as close to Israel appears to have been reduced, perhaps in a sign of progress in the Iranian-Saudi dialogue in Iraq.

The coverage: On a speech televised May 11, Khamenei asserted that Israel’s “malicious behavior is being seen by the eyes of the people of the world. It is truly everyone's duty to take a stance and condemn this malicious, criminal, barbaric behavior of the Zionists in recent days"...