Washington, June 16: President Donald Trump said the US had “nothing to do with the attack on Iran” and warned Tehran against targeting US interests in retaliation.“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. However, we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel, and end this bloody conflict!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social late Saturday.
Anger mixed with worry as Iranians in the capital of Tehran woke up to images of their country’s retaliatory attacks on Israel.
Iranian state television, long controlled by hard-line supporters of the country’s theocracy, repeatedly aired footage of missile strikes on Tel Aviv throughout the morning. The broadcaster also showed people cheering in front of a large screen set up in Tehran to follow the strikes as if they were watching a soccer match.
Traffic was lighter than normal on the capital’s streets. The change was due in part to the Shiite holiday of Eid al-Ghadir commemorating the Prophet Muhammad picking his successor, Ali, who is beloved as the first Shiite imam and whose assassination set in motion the splintering of Sunni and Shiite Islam.
Even before the attacks began, many Iranians had travelled outside the city to enjoy days off in places along the nearby Caspian Sea.
The holiday mood made news of the assaults that much more shocking, particularly when the strikes killed many ranking members of Iran’s military and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, something unseen since Iran’s war with Iraq in the 1980s.
It’s a new experience for many of Iran’s 80 million people who weren’t alive for that devastating conflict, which included a period known as the “War of the Cities,” in which Iraq rained ballistic missiles, artillery fire and airstrikes on Iranian cities.
“Israel killed our commanders and what they expect in return? A kiss?” said Mahmoud Dorri, a 29-year-old taxi driver. “We will go after them to punish them: an eye for an eye.”