Celebration, trepidation and anger: Iranians have conflicting emotions over Israeli airstrikes
When Israel launched its sustained assault on Iran's nuclear program and military leaders early on Friday, Sareh began cycling through a range of emotions.
'I felt happiness,' the Iranian woman said, at the deaths of leaders who had long repressed the country's people.
'Then disbelief,' she continued from her home in the northern city of Rasht. 'Then some worry for what would happen next. Then happiness again, for how much power these people felt they had over us, how many of us they killed.' Like others interviewed for this report, she spoke on the condition that her last name be withheld for fear of retaliation from the government.
As Israel, a long-time enemy, attacks Iran's oppressive government, ordinary Iranians are feeling conflicting emotions: hope and hopelessness; celebration and trepidation.
Having suffered years of anaemic economic growth and double-digit inflation, corruption at every level of government and global isolation – and having lived through multiple rounds of protest crushed by authorities with deadly force – many Iranians have grown deeply pessimistic that they can change their government for the better by themselves.
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So some looked to the attacks, in which Israel killed top Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists, bombed nuclear and military sites, and crippled air defences, as a potential means of salvation – though one that carries immense risks.
'We are killed a thousand times with stress, especially for people like myself who have kids,' said Behnaz, 40, a single mother in Tabriz, where Israel said it had destroyed a base used by the Iranian air force.
Some Iranians welcomed the attacks, she said; others are terrified of the unpredictable consequences of war. Her own feelings are fluid.
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The Age
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- The Age
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Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters. Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters. Israel and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other as US President Donald Trump says the conflict could be easily ended and warns Tehran not to strike any US targets. Israeli rescue teams and sniffer dogs combed the rubble of residential buildings destroyed in overnight strikes looking for survivors after at least 10 people, including children, were killed, authorities said. Iran said at least 138 people had been killed in Israel's onslaught since Friday including 60 on Saturday - half of them children - when a missile brought down a 14-storey apartment block in Tehran. The Israeli military warned Iranians living near weapons facilities to evacuate on Sunday after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump said Israel's attacks would intensify. An official said Israel had a long list of targets in Iran and declined to say how long the offensive would continue. Sites attacked on Saturday evening included two "dual-use" fuel sites that supported military and nuclear operations, he said. Trump, who has lauded Israel's offensive and denied Iranian claims the US has taken part, warned Tehran not to widen its retaliation to include US interests. "If we are attacked in any way, shape or form by Iran, the full strength and might of the US Armed Forces will come down on you at levels never seen before," he said on Truth Social. "However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict." The US had been negotiating with Iran to secure a commitment to severely restrict its nuclear program, which Iran says is civilian but Israel sees as an existential threat because of its weapons potential. Trump gave no details of any possible deal. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Israel's attacks had been aimed at sabotaging those talks, which were due to resume in Oman on Sunday before being cancelled. He said the offensive had the support of the US and Iran was acting in self-defence. Israel, which has not signed the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty and is thought to possess nuclear weapons, wants to stop Iran from developing atomic weapons and eliminate its ballistic missile capability. The International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday declared Iran in breach of its obligations under the treaty. Iran said Israel had attacked the Shahran oil depot in the capital but the situation was under control. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said Israel attacked an oil refinery near the capital on Sunday, and Iran's defence ministry was damaged. It also reported the arrest of two people accused of belonging to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Alborz province. The latest wave of Iranian attacks on Israel began late on Saturday night, when air raid sirens sent some one million people into bomb shelters in Jerusalem and Haifa. Residents in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were told to shelter early on Sunday amid another incoming missile barrage. The Iran-aligned Houthis, who control most of Yemen, said they had launched ballistic missiles towards Jaffa near Tel Aviv, the first time an ally of Iran has reportedly joined the fray. Conflict in the Middle East has decimated Tehran's strongest regional proxies - the Hamas militia in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon - reducing its options for retaliation. Israeli authorities said at least 10 people were killed in overnight missile strikes in northern and central Israel, including three children. At least six people were killed by an Iranian missile that hit a cluster of residential buildings in the town of Bat Yam. In the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel, four women were killed, including a mother and her two daughters.
