Iran Says US Warned It Not To Target US Facilities

The viral jokes posted on Persian social media after the attack included “Iran's regime destroyed the country of Israel with a few buckets of water by the IRGC" and "Thank God, the embassy employees were not in the Kotlett #2 building".

Iranians protesting against the regime have used the word Kotlett, which are Persian meat patties, to describe the body of the IRGC Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a precision strike by the US in Iraq in 2020.

Any success of the Israeli army in eliminating the IRGC commanders and their forces in Syria is typically welcomed by hundreds of thousands of Iranians via social media posts or comments under YouTube videos.

Users also use the expression Kotlett to address other eliminated IRGC commanders. They do so despite the arrest of hundreds of people by regime forces over such posts. That includes Navvab Ebrahimi, a chef with 3.2 million instagram followers, who was detained for posting a video tutorial of how to cook Kotlett on the anniversary of Soleimani’s death.

This week, no one was arrested for using the term Kotlett on social media – apparently because of the large number of violations. But, according to the Fars News Agency, the IRGC’s mouthpiece, a person who displayed the Israeli flag was arrested. Over the past four years, the Israeli flag has been observed flying over numerous bridges in major cities before being removed by municipal workers.

For years, Iranian people have frequently refused to step on the American and Israeli flags that the agents of the Islamic Republic painted on pavements – especially at universities. Many news websites, including some hardliner outlets have stopped labeling Israel as the "Zionist regime", instead using its official name. This shift has resulted in roughly half of them using the term "Zionist regime" and the other half using Israel's official name.

After the killing of Qassem Soleimani and his companions at the Baghdad airport, both traditional religious people and reformists found themselves in a unique emotional situation. Given the wave of hatred against former US President Donald Trump promoted by the world media, these Iranian factions were willing to attend Soleimani’s funeral.

Of course, the government told many lies during that time – including the deceitful claim that Soleimani’s funeral had 7 million attendees in Tehran. At best, there were hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom were bussed into the capital by the authorities to mourn Soleimani, whom they believed saved them from ISIS.

Today, the social conditions surrounding the killing of Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was Soleimani's military equal, are completely different from those in 2020.

During the Mahsa Jina Amini movement from 2022 to 2023, the Iranian nation lost over 500 souls through the bullets of the IRGC and special forces.

Iranian society, which turned the regime’s fraudulent 2024 elections into a disgrace for the Islamic Republic with a historically low voter turnout, is certainly not ready for a massive funeral for Zahedi and his companions. Similar to the funeral of the IRGC’s Razi Mousavi in 2023, burial ceremonies with a huge bused crowd are unlikely—particularly given the regime’s plethora of challenges it needs to militarily contend with.

In the six months following October 7, the regime has been unable to organize a demonstration of even tens of thousands dedicated to Hamas. Instead, it has utilized the few thousand participants of Friday prayers in major cities to march. The distribution of sweets by the IRGC paramilitary Basij members after the Hamas attack, also received a very cold response from the Iranian people.

With a significant portion of society displaying complete neutrality towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an increase in “Israelophilia” – the anti-Israel rhetoric the government has historically capitalized on has reached its lowest level since 1979.

The 2021 survey conducted by the Gamaan Institute reveals that 35% of participants hold a positive opinion of Israel. Additionally, 65% expressed opposition to the slogan "Death to Israel," while 64% agreed with the slogan "Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I sacrifice my life for Iran."

On the celebrity front, figures like Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who traveled to Israel and directed films there, have shattered numerous taboos. The visit of exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi to Israel in April 2023, welcomed by the majority of Iranians living abroad and criticized by only a few individuals (mostly Islamists and Marxists), marked another significant step in the normalization of relations between the people of Iran and Israel.

In recent years, Iranians have praised Israel for its democracy, tolerance towards Israeli Arabs and the LGBT community, water resource management, information technologies, and wealth accumulation. Many Iranians residing in Western countries also collaborate with Israeli companies.

Israeli fiction series like "Tehran" (which aired in two seasons in 2020 and 2022) have been downloaded, watched, and well-received by millions of Iranians. Despite the series featuring a security storyline where Mossad security agents defeat Iranian security agents in their activities, it has garnered significant popularity among Iranian audiences.

Some Islamists and Iranian leftists may attribute this change of attitude to enmity towards the regime or adopt the "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach, or even link it to the change in people’s slogans during the Green Movement.

But, they miss the main point.

Iranians have been seeking an ally for their future nation-state, given the lack of permanent friendship among their Arab neighbors or the Turks.

Today, they find themselves more aligned with the ideals and visions of the nation-state of Israel. The history of friendship between non-Jewish Iranians and Jews has played a significant role in this shift.

According to the official journal of the European Union, Arvan Cloud (aka Abr Arvan; Noyan Abr Arvan Co.; Arwan Company; Arvancloud) was deleted from the sanctions list. The firm was sanctioned in 2022 for its role in Iran's Internet censorship.

Iran International reported late in March that the EU was set to remove the company following a complaint with the European Court of Justice. The firm also pressured European governments through political channels to revoke this decision. At the same time, ArvanCloud announced the termination of its contract with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A source close to European authorities informed Iran International last month that ArvanCloud's international backers erroneously claimed the company played a significant role in ensuring millions of Iranian citizens had access to a free internet during the 2022-2023 Woman, Life, Freedom protests. This claim appears to be one of the reasons for the EU's decision to lift sanctions on ArvanCloud.

Iran has implemented a comprehensive censorship program since 2002. This includes blocking tens of thousands of websites, along with major social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Traditional media outlets are also subject to strict censorship, as are books and films. Both religious and political content are heavily monitored and restricted.

ArvanCloud controls 49% of Iran's cloud space market and continues to host many of the Islamic Republic's most important websites, including the Presidency, IRNA news agency, and the Ministry of Islamic Guidance.

Salami was speaking just five days after an Israeli precision airstrike killed two top IRGC generals and five other officers, who were meeting in the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Damascus.

The funeral of the seven officers took place Friday morning as part of the Quds Day ceremonies. Salami, speaking during the even said, “Our brave men will punish the Zionist regime. As long as our bodies are carried in these coffins to be mourned by the people, no power, no matter how great, will be able to strike a blow against this nation.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader and other top officials have vowed a harsh response to Israel at a time of Tehran’s own choosing. While many doubt a direct attack against Israel, there is a high degree of concern about Iranian proxies or agents abroad conducting retaliatory operations against Israel.

Salami also claimed that Hamas has sent messages from Gaza that it can defeat Israel, telling Tehran not to be concerned.

The IRGC commander also railed against the United States for having long supported Israel, reiterating the Islamic Republic’s public stance that American power is waning and US influence in the Middle East is weakening. He claimed that support for Israel has put the United States “at the center of global hatred.”

“The Zionist regime is being kept alive by America's artificial respiration, and it is breathing in the special political, security, and mental intensive care unit of America. Whenever the West's artificial respiration apparatus is removed from the Zionist regime's nose, it will wither and collapse, and this is close, not far,” Salami insisted.

President Joe Biden on Thursday warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the overall humanitarian situation in Gaza is unacceptable, and Israel should take steps to address the crisis or face consequences. Many lawmakers and experts criticized Biden for putting pressure on Israel while its ally faces direct threats from the hostile Iranian government.

Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian took to social media on Friday to accuse the United States of being directly responsible for the continuation of the war in Gaza.

Tasnim News, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard, quoted former IRGC commander and top regime insider, Mohsen Rezaei as saying that Tehran “has made and will definitely implement the decision about taking revenge for the Israeli strike on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria.”

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas militants, drawing US and British retaliatory strikes since February. The attacks began after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei urged Muslims to blockade Israel.

Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the leader of the pro-Iran rebels, in a televised speech said 90 ships had been targeted in the Red Sea and drone attacks had increased and expanded to additional regions.

He said 34 attacks had been launched in a month, using 125 ballistic missiles and drones.

The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to take longer and more expensive journeys around the southern tip of Africa.

The United States and Britain carried out the strikes against Houthi targets in response to the attacks on shipping.

Iran has mobilized it armed proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen against Israel since the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Israel invaded Gaza to eradicate Hamas and in six months of fighting between twenty and thirty thousand Gazans have died, with thousands of militants among them.

State broadcaster showed demonstrators carrying pictures of those killed and banners with slogans such as "Death to Israel" and "Death to America".

The funeral coincided with the annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day, during which Iran stages large state-sponsored pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rallies nationwide.

Among those killed in Monday's airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus was one of Iran's top soldiers, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, the extraterritorial wing of the IRGC.

It was the boldest, and deadliest, in a series of attacks that have killed Iranian officials in Syria since December. According to The Financial Times, suspected Israeli strikes have claimed the lives of 18 IRGC commanders and advisers since the Gaza war broke out on October 7.

Iran vowed harsh retaliation, raising the specter of a wider war and prompting the Israeli armed forces to suspend leave for all combat units on Thursday, a day after they said they were mobilizing more troops for air defense units.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his country would harm "whoever harms us or plans to harm us".

The coffins of two of the killed officers were displayed in the capital, Tehran, to religious mourning chants. Some of those present waved the Palestinian flag. All seven officers were expected to be buried later on Friday.

Iran's Jerusalem Day rallies are held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in support of Palestinians, who want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state in territories captured by Israel in a 1967 war.