Why Iranians openly hope for fresh strikes from Israel

Just two months after intense attacks, Camelia Entekhabifard warns about the possibility of a second Iran-Israel war

- Camelia Entekhabifard

Two months ago, Iran was reeling from unexpected and intense Israeli attacks. Israel struck selective targets across Iran's vast geography with two main goals: first, to cripple and suspend Iran's advanced nuclear programme; and second, to assassinate senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and top nuclear officials and scientists.

Within 48 hours, several high-ranking IRGC commanders were killed in targeted strikes, plunging the country into its most serious crisis since the Iran-Iraq war began 45 years ago, as Independent Persian reported.

During those 12 days of fighting, ordinary citizens were also among the victims of Israel's precision attacks. But what was striking was that public anger in Iran leaned far more heavily against the Islamic Republic than against Israel. The depth of resentment toward the regime outweighed any outrage at the foreign aggressor.

Runaway inflation, a bleak outlook for the younger generation, mass emigration to uncertain futures abroad, poverty and entrenched corruption - these are only some of the reasons so many Iranians have turned against their rulers.

As the war dragged on and Iranians grappled with fear and trauma about what the conflict might mean for their future, the regime further alienated them by seizing the bodies of those killed in Israeli attacks.

The most basic right of a grieving family is to choose where their loved ones are buried. Yet the Islamic Republic denied them this too. The victims of Israel’s attacks were all buried in the “martyrs’ sections” of their local cemeteries, regardless of the families’ wishes.