Iran’s State-Censored Media Calls Israeli Attack Limited

On October 26, Israel launched strikes against targets in Tehran, Shiraz, Khuzestan, and Ilam. Following the strikes, Iran’s state-censored media insisted the attack was limited and the damage minimal. The uniformity of the message may indicate an information campaign aimed at calming the population and lessening the pressure on the regime to retaliate, which would be highly likely to provoke another attack. According to The New York Times, Israel targeted air defense systems near Iran’s petrochemical plants.  

• October 26: In the immediate aftermath of the attack, and even prior to an assessment of the damage, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpieces Mashregh News and Tasnim News reported a normal state of affairs in Tehran and minimal damage to Iran’s military bases.  
• October 26: In a separate story, Tasnim News dismissed reports of attacks against IRGC garrisons in Tehran. 
• October 26: Government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said Iran’s air defense system “is a source of pride of our nation” and insisted that commercial flights were on schedule and that the situation in the capital was “normal.”  
• October 26: Supreme National Security Council mouthpiece Nour News issued a statement to the public: 
  • “The policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the Israeli regime’s aggression against our country is retaliation, without the need for further justification and without haste. Despite the weak and theatrical nature of this deed, which the regime,” referring to Israel, “is trying to exaggerate, aggression cannot be ignored.” 
• October 26: In an official statement released by most news agencies, including centrist Farda News, the Iranian army released the names of two fatalities among its forces in the October 26 attack: a missile operator, Major Hamzeh Jahandideh, and a warrant officer, Mohammad-Mehdi Shahrokhifar, both killed in Mahshahr, in Khuzestan province. 
• October 26: Reformist Entekhab, and other news sources reporting on economic issues, reported the strengthening of the Iranian rial against the U.S. dollar, as the limited nature of the Israeli attack became known. 
• October 27: The Iranian army, in a statement quoted by centrist Aftab News, reported that Major Sajjad Mansouri and Warrant Officer Mehdi Naqavi, who were wounded in the attack, died of their injuries. 
• October 27: The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Defense Headquarters issued a statement that was quoted by Aftab News:  
  • “Despite warnings of the Islamic Republic authorities to the criminal and illegal Zionist regime concerning not engaging in adventurous deeds, the fallacious regime attacked some military centers in Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam provinces. The air defense systems of the country detected and successfully countered them, but limited damage was done … We are urging the people to preserve their unity and calm, follow the news from the national media, and ignore rumors spread by enemy media.” 
• October 27: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, receiving family members of Law Enforcement Forces members killed in Iran’s periphery regions, said, as quoted by Mashregh News: 
  • “Israel’s villainy two nights ago must neither be exaggerated nor underestimated. The Zionist regime’s calculations must be proved wrong, and we must make them understand the volition of the Iranian nation … It is up to the authorities to decide how best to make the Zionist regime understand the power and volition of the Iranian nation.” 
• October 27: Tasnim News also quoted Khamenei’s statements concerning public discourse in Iran: 
  • “In the realm of security, preserving the psychological security in society is very important … Decision makers involved in regulating the cyberspace should pay attention to the psychological security of society, and the authorities must preserve the psychological security of the people.” 
  • “In order to secure Iran, we must be strong. Iran is strong and is capable of defending itself … If there is no security, there will no economy, no science, no progress, and no family. Security is the foundation for all means of advancement of a nation and country.” 
• October 27: Nour News, mouthpiece of the Supreme National Security Council, issued a statement on the Israeli attack:  
  • “The questions in domestic and international media can be boiled down to: ‘Had Israel no interest in engaging in a widespread attack against Iran, or did it lack the capacity to do so …?’ Whenever it has the means, this regime never holds back … following a yearlong war of attrition in Gaza, it simply lacked the means to engage in a widespread attack.” The statement concluded: “Iran will not tolerate threats to its security … Iran will retaliate … Iran’s response will be definitive, decisive, and appropriate.” 
• October 27: IRGC mouthpiece Javan newspaper wrote: “The attack was not proportionate to the boastings of the Zionist regime during the past weeks. It was weak and limited, and Iran’s air defense systems made it even weaker … Iran, however, has the right to retaliate against this crime.”  
• October 27: Kayhan, a mouthpiece of Khamenei, published an editorial by Hossein Shariatmadari, the newspaper’s editor: “Although the attack of the Zionist regime failed to achieve its objectives, the aggression of this savage and fallacious regime must not remain unanswered … Iran’s response must be more destructive than ‘Operation Truthful Covenant 2,’” referring to Iran’s October 1 missile attack against Israel.  
• October 27: Reformist Ham-Mihan reported that an air-defense site in Mahshahr, in Khuzestan province, was hit by Israel. The newspaper also reported a military base in eastern Tehran and several military bases in south and southwest Tehran were targeted, along with a factory in the Shams Abad industrial park near Imam Khomeini International Airport. 
• October 27: Ham-Mihan columnist Mohsen Salehi-Khah commented on Iran’s limited ability to respond to the Israeli attack:  
  • “By rocket attacks, Iran’s nonstate allies tried to pressure Israel to limit its engagement in Gaza or persuade it to accept a cease-fire. Israel not only abstained from limiting its engagement in Gaza but also opened a new front against Lebanon … If we entangle ourselves in a fight, what is our next step … ? Iran should engage in more active diplomacy, particularly in cooperation with the Lebanese government. Iran should see to it that the war is ended in Lebanon … Critics of Lebanese Hezbollah are saying that it has entangled Lebanon in a war that has nothing to do with Lebanon … We must reconsider our policies, and stopping the cycle of action and reaction between Tehran and Tel Aviv can be the first step.” 
• October 27: Reformist Shargh Daily interviewed intellectual Sadeq Zibakalam and Mohammad-Javad Jamali Nobandegani, a former parliamentarian: 
  • Zibakalam said: “Iran is not likely to respond … unless radical elements within Iran really pursue continued entanglements, tension, and war with Israel.” Zibakalam also said the United States has managed to limit Israel’s response, “and even the Israelis themselves are not pursuing an all-out war with Iran.” 
  • Jamali Nobandegani, on the other hand, said: “Saturday morning’s operation cannot be the end of the fight between Tehran and Tel Aviv … In the Truthful Covenant 1 Operation,” a reference to Iran’s April 13 attack against Israel, “the two parties appeared to have agreed to stop the fight, but we witnessed Netanyahu’s assassinations of various individuals … which led to Operation Truthful Covenant 2 … There is no guarantee that Israel will stop its attacks in the coming days and weeks, forcing Iran to retaliate.” 

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