It was two in the afternoon and at Hamid's kiosk, in front of one of the busy subway stations in the center of Tehran, there were only a few copies of two of the more than twenty newspapers that circulate daily in Iran, a magic generated by the subsidies granted by the State. “People want to know what happened and what is going to happen. “There is a lot of uncertainty,” this man assured that he does not remember a sale like the one this Monday. Nor similar covers. “They have aroused a lot of curiosity,” he added, pointing to the front page of the Hamshari (or “neighbor”) newspaper, which featured a large map of the region where Iran and Israel were highlighted in larger size with arrows pointing the way. They took the Iranian drones and missiles, and the points where they hit. “The night the new Middle East was born,” read the headline.
The newspaper echoed the statements of the commander in chief of the Revolutionary Force, General Hosein Salami, who stated on Sunday that, after the military operation The True Promise, Iran would respond directly to all Israeli aggressions that occur in the future. An idea that resonated quite strongly in Iran this Monday, especially if to that was added the threat that the next time it would attack ten times stronger, as assured by the Supreme National Security Council.
“Iran will respond immediately to Israeli adventures,” Foreign Minister Hosein Amir Abdollahian insisted this Monday in different telephone conversations he held with counterparts from different countries, in which he also insisted that Iran does not seek to “increase tension in the region".
“I'm afraid we'll end up in a war. Do you think Israel will respond?” asked Shirin, a medical student who had approached another of the kiosks on Enqelab (or “Revolution”) Street in Tehran. There was still a greater variety of newspapers there. Many carried large photos and illustrations of the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, with different headlines. “A humiliation for the Zionists,” said one. “Iranian defense in Al Aqsa,” said another. “Well executed,” mentioned another.
This explosion of pride that dominated the media contrasted with comments on social networks, where some users asked if the attack had really been so successful; after all, most had been shot down before reaching Israel, and there were even those who mocked that the authorities have announced in advance their plans to attack neighboring countries and the United States, as Minister Abdollahian explained last Sunday in front of the ambassadors accredited to Iran. Among other things, the minister assured that they had notified the countries in the region 72 hours in advance and that they had also alerted Washington through intermediaries. It is known that some messages were sent through the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which represents American interests in the country since both nations broke relations after the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979 and the detention of 53 people for 444 days. . It is also known that other countries in the region also served as intermediaries.
Hence, the attack was fully choreographed and all forces were ready to stop the attack, including deployment in Jordanian territory, a country that already knew in advance that the Iranian attack included flying over its territory. This Monday it was learned that the Foreign Minister of that country, Ayman Safadi, summoned the Iranian chargé d'affaires in Amman due to the tension that arose after that country's aviation shot down Iranian drones. Tehran has said that Amman knew those drones were not directed against Jordanians. But sources in Tehran assure that there are many reasons why Jordan decided to act: not only is it one of the great allies of the United States in the region and signed peace with Israel in 1994, but it fears that Iran and the so-called groups “axis of resistance” are trying to destabilize the country.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Naser Kanani, took advantage of a press conference to launch accusations at Western countries. "Instead of making accusations against Iran... they should blame themselves and respond to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the war crimes committed by Israel," the diplomat declared this Monday, and assured that there was no pre-agreement. with any nation as has been suggested, including in Iranian networks.
