Shouting “Death to Israel” and “Death to the United States,” repeating traditional slogans from the Islamic Revolution of 1979, Thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Iran the attack that his country carried out this Saturday against that first State, in retaliation for the bombing against the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
In Tehran’s Palestine Square Dozens of protesters waved flags of the country and the Revolutionary Guard responsible for the attacks, according to videos shared on social networks.
“The hand of the general of Hosein (the third Shiite imam) will eliminate Israel from this world“, they sang in that capital square, where a mural was inaugurated in which a torn Israeli flag appears with missiles in the background and a threatening slogan: “The next slap will be more violent”.
A brief rally was also held in front of the British embassy in the absence of American and Israeli diplomatic representations.
In Tehran there were also small congregations at the University of that city, where they chanted slogans announcing to Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, that they are “ready” and on the central Enghelab street.
In Isfahan (center), people gathered around the grave of General Mohamad Reza Zahedi, the highest-ranking soldier of the seven Revolutionary Guards killed in the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus.
Before the attacks on Saturday and Sunday, 43-year-old Iranian Maryam said she hoped that a “compromise” could be reached in order to “prevent a war from starting and innocent people from dying.”
But others in Tehran wanted a stronger reaction from Iranian authorities. “This time we must respond with more seriousness and determination,” reacted Yussef, a 37-year-old worker.
There were also shows of support for the government in the northern province of Golestan and in the city of Kerman, where he is buried. Qasem Soleimani former general at the head of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC).
Soleimani was assassinated by the US in 2020 in Iraq and headed the Quds Force, the same force to which the seven Iranians killed in the attack on the consulate on April 1 belonged.
Among the dead was the leader of its Quds Force branch for Syria and Lebanon, Brigadier General Mohamed Reza Zahedi.
Named as “Operation True Promise”the attack is “part of the punishment of that illegitimate and criminal regime” in reference to Israel, the elite military body indicated in a statement collected by the state agency IRNA.
It came after days of tension following the death of a top Iranian general in Damascus. The devices arrived in Israeli airspace at the beginning of the morning, were repelled by the “Iron Dome” defensive system and caused some damage to a military base.
“Iran launched a direct attack against the State of Israel from Iranian territory. We are closely monitoring the killer drones sent by Iran and that are on their way to Israel. This is a serious and dangerous escalation,” said Daniel Hagari, army spokesman. of Israel, in the afternoon of that country.
The official expressed that the country is prepared for different scenarios and that they trust in the protection of the “Iron Dome” to defend themselves. Although at first they calculated that there were “dozens of drones”, they later raised that number to more than 200 aerial suicide devices and US sources took it to half a thousand.
At 4 a.m. (local time), the Israeli authorities indicated that the population no longer needed to lock themselves in shelters or bunkers. However, other restrictions persisted: the closure of airspace and schools, as well as the prohibition of gatherings of more than 1,000 people (100 in border areas) and school trips or excursions.