Iranian government celebrates ‘revenge’ strikes on Israel but civilians fear response

As crowds chant ‘Death to Israel’ on the streets of several cities, others plan escape routes and queue for miles outside petrol stations

Iranian state media on Sunday broadcast revolutionary songs alongside footage of people celebrating its “revenge” drone and missile strikes on Israel.
State television aired celebratory scenes in several cities, showing crowds – and even Iranian MPs gathered in the parliamentary chamber – chanting “Death to Israel”.
“I’m very, very happy,” said one man on a state broadcast. “I’m proud of being an Iranian… I was counting down for it,” said another.
But ordinary Iranians who spoke to The Telegraph painted a very different picture amid fears of how Israel will respond
Footage obtained by The Telegraph showed lengthy queues stretching for hundreds of metres outside petrol stations as people rushed to make emergency preparations.
Highways leading out of Tehran were gridlocked with traffic as many began to evacuate on the only way out after Mehrabad airport closed and will remain so until Monday morning.
Iranians in the central city of Qom, home to Fordow, the site of an underground uranium enrichment facility located at a former Iranian military base – and a potential target for Israeli retaliation – residents are bunkering down for an attack.
“I called my cousins at midnight in Fordow village and told them to leave immediately,” Meysam, from Qom, told The Telegraph.
“We might consider leaving Qom as well. The attack is one concern, but the potential nuclear radiation is another matter entirely,” he said.
“People are frightened, and we’re constantly talking with our relatives over the phone, discussing our options.”
“There’s no sleep here,” Ali, a resident of Tehran, said in a telephone interview after midnight, in the early minutes of Sunday.
“Even my child knows what’s happening. We’re packing up to flee Tehran for my parents’ place 200km away.”
“People are terrified,” he added. “The authorities took a huge gamble. It’s like a suicide. It might be their downfall, but the public will suffer most.”
Iran’s decision to strike Israel directly could lead to “military confrontations on multiple fronts,” said António Guterres, secretary-general of the United Nations, and significantly destabilise the Middle East.
Already the region is under stress as Israel’s war with Hamas hit more than six months of brutal fighting a week ago, which had prompted earlier warnings from the UK and other nations that Iran must not react.
Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed that the strikes were “even more successful than anticipated,” despite being “deliberately constrained, matching the scale of aggression exhibited by the Zionist regime.”
Iran has not provided concrete evidence to support this, though such words suggest that the regime still has the firepower to escalate – one of the many ways Tehran is threatening Israel and its allies not to engage further.
Meanwhile, Tawab, a farmer startled awake overnight by the Iranian attack against Israel, said he has been preparing for this conflict for some time.
“I’ve been stockpiling canned food in anticipation of potential retaliation for years now, but I never imagined they would be stupid enough to do it.
“We don’t know what to do now and where to go,” he said. “Israel will not just sit and watch. War is just a few steps away from us.”
A presenter on state TV has urged the nation not to worry about the financial costs of the strikes, declaring the “200 to 300 missiles, we have already been paid for”, referring to Saturday’s seizure of a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Our guys got this Israeli ship… it’s a very big one… the boys will open the containers, then we will see what they have in them. After selling that, we will cover the costs of the strikes,” he added.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized the Portuguese ship MCS Aries in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
State media claimed Iran aimed to intimidate Israel with its attack.
“This attack served as a display of its military might and it could breach the collective defence efforts of the United States, Israel, France, England, and Jordan, and reach Israeli cities such as Jerusalem, Negev, Tel Aviv, or Haifa,” the official IRNA agency reported.
“From a tactical standpoint, Iran’s manoeuvre may not be classified as a large-scale operation.
“However, targeting Israel from Iranian territory constituted its primary achievement. Israelis are currently engaged in swift efforts to rebuild their positions following the conclusion of the operation.
“Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been such a delay in the publication of images showing Iran’s missile, which likely had to pass through military censorship channels.
“Iran effectively accomplished its dual objective of demonstration and intimidation. While the destruction of several grounded fighter planes would have potentially bolstered the strategic success rate of this operation.”
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