Photo: Vahid Salemi Associated Press An Iranian cleric raises a fist in celebration of Iranian strikes Tuesday night in Tehran.
Ahmad Parhizi – Agence France-Presse and Menna Zaki – Agence France-Presse in Tehran
Published at 9:31
- Middle East
In the streets of Tehran, a small crowd of Iranians celebrates the missile strikes on Israel. But others worry about the risks of escalation in the Middle East after this major attack by the Islamic Republic against its sworn enemy.
As soon as the launches were announced on Tuesday evening, state television broadcast scenes of joy in the country, with people waving flags of the pro-Iranian Lebanese Hezbollah and portraits of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, assassinated by Israel last week.
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“Death to Israel! Death to America!” chanted the crowd in the streets.
“We are ready to accept whatever the consequences may be, and we have no fear,” Hedyeh Gholizadeh, 29, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) when interviewed at a rally in Palestine Square in central Tehran.
She said she felt a “feeling of pride” after the strikes of some 200 missiles by Iran, which was cornered and forced to retaliate after a series of heavy blows by Israel, according to analysts.
On Wednesday afternoon, around a thousand people gathered in Tehran at the call of the authorities, AFP journalists noted.
This operation against Israel, the second in six months, was carried out in response to the deaths of leaders allied to the Islamic Republic in their “axis of resistance” to Israel, which includes the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.
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Photo: Atta Kenare Agence France-Presse Iranians burn an Israeli flag, Wednesday, in Tehran.
“Bold move”
Israel has vowed to “make Tehran pay the price” in a US-backed response, threats that have some Iranians fearing open war could break out.
“I am very worried because if Israel wants to take retaliatory measures, it will lead to an extension of the war,” Mansour Firouzabadi, a 45-year-old nurse in Tehran, told AFP.
Analysts say the barrage, which Tehran says targeted air bases, is a response to Israel’s setbacks against Iran’s regional allies.
According to Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group, Iran took “a calculated risk” in April when it first attacked Israel, in response to an Israeli strike that destroyed its consulate in Syria.
“This much bolder move by the [Iranian] regime reflects the growing challenges it faces as its closest partners have been weakened on multiple fronts,” he told AFP.
According to Vaez, “failure to respond could have further eroded Iran’s credibility with its allies, giving the impression that Tehran was passive ».
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to deliver a rare speech at Friday prayers that could set the tone for Iran’s future actions after he said Nasrallah’s death was “not trivial.”
The last time he led Friday prayers was nearly five years ago, when Iran fired ballistic missiles at U.S. air bases in Iraq after the January 2020 U.S. assassination of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the regime’s ideological army, the Revolutionary Guards.
I am very worried because if Israel wants to retaliate, it will lead to an expansion of the war
— Mansour Firouzabadi
“Far from over”
Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian recently said Iran had “tried not to react” to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, fearing it would derail U.S. efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza.
However, promises by the United States and its allies of a “ceasefire in exchange for Iran not reacting… were completely false,” he said.
Pezeshkian's government has been under increasing pressure from conservatives to react directly against Israel, which intensified after the assassination of Nasrallah.
Iran has promised a “crushing response” if Israel responds to the strikes and warned against any direct military intervention in support of Israel.
While Tehran claims that the “chapter is closed […], this is far from being the case,” believes expert Vaez.
“The final word on this conflict does not belong to Iran, but to Israel and the United States,” he added.
According to the expert, “if we are to believe the latest developments in Gaza, Lebanon and Yemen with the Houthi rebels [allies of Iran], this confrontation is far from over.”