Iran’s Tehran Thousands of Iranians celebrated in the streets on Tuesday night following the historic ballistic missile attack on Israel by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Iranian leadership encouraged citizens to attend rallies in support of the strike that were organized by the state via text messaging while some missiles were still in the air in key cities.
The demonstrations were televised live on state television, and the loudspeakers blared songs hailing the Iranian armed forces and Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group, as the sky lighted up with pyrotechnics.
Observe the impact moments—where is Picasso going to arrive to capture these moments? Presenter Amirhossein Tahmasebi excitedly greeted the millions of viewers glued to the state broadcaster’s famous Channel 3 over video of hundreds of missiles smashing into Israel. “Where else are you looking for a subject Hollywood, watch this and enjoy,” Tahmasebi said.
Only a few days prior, the same host had threatened to strike Tehran next if Iran did not exact revenge on Israel for killing IRGC Brigadier General Abbas Nilforoushan and Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah in a significant attack on Beirut. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, “only understands the language of missiles, and the ballistic kind,” according to his argument.
It first appeared that Iran was exercising more of its “strategic patience” amid concerns of an all-out regional war breaking out, with the government of moderate President Masoud Pezeshkian reluctant to strike during a highly volatile period.
The message coming from the state largely focused on the fact that “Hezbollah is alive” and relayed the message that the “axis of resistance” that Iran backs across the region will continue to act against Israel’s goals. There were no promises of a looming “harsh revenge” as with prior Israeli assassinations