Iranian press review: Mixed reactions in Iran following strikes on Israel
Opposition silenced amid attack on Israel
As Iran's missile attack on Israel unfolded, state-run media reported that Iranians had gathered at Palestine Square in central Tehran to celebrate the strikes. Shortly after, videos of these celebrations were released.
However, these celebrations were limited to pro-establishment groups. Dissenting voices, opposed to the attacks, were not given the opportunity to express their views within Iran.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cyber section issued a statement urging its supporters to “report any social media activity in support of the fake regime of Israel”.
Despite this warning, Farsi social media was quickly flooded with comments from both experts and regular Iranians, suggesting that the missile strikes reflected the establishment's weakness and lack of further strategy.
New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch
Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters
“This is a situation where, whether you strike back or hold off, you lose either way,” wrote one user on X.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah and a vocal supporter of Israel, was among the figures who used the occasion to call for international intervention to topple the Iranian establishment.
“I call on the international community to stand with the people of Iran. This is a moment of opportunity. This regime has never been weaker or more divided,” he wrote on X.
Details emerge on IRGC commander killed in Beirut
Local media have released more details about Abbas Nilfroushan, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC) commander in Lebanon, who was killed alongside Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli strike on Hezbollah headquarters in southern Beirut on Friday.
Nilfroushan is the second senior Quds Force commander in Lebanon to be killed by Israel in the past six months.
Born in 1966 in Isfahan, Nilfroushan joined the Iran-Iraq war at the age of 16 after falsifying his birth certificate to appear older.
By 17, he commanded a unit in Isfahan’s 14th Imam Hussein Division. He later served in the 8th Najaf Division, playing a pivotal role in operations during the war.
After the war, Nilfroushan held several senior positions within the IRGC, including deputy operations commander. He also led the Revolutionary War University from 2009 to 2013.
Nilfroushan spent five years working in Lebanon and Syria and was sanctioned by both the European Union and the United States in 2022 for his involvement in the crackdown on anti-government protests in Iran.
He is reported to have played a significant role in suppressing protests in Zahedan during the “Bloody Friday” incident in 2022.
Rise in executions
At least 14 prisoners have been executed at Shiraz Central Prison, also known as Adel Abad, during the second half of September, highlighting a rising trend in executions in the central Iranian city.
According to the Iran Human Rights Organisation (IHRNGO), the prisoners were convicted of narcotics-related offences and homicide, with two Afghan nationals among those hanged. The executions were carried out on 16, 18, 23 and 25 September.
Mahmoud Amiri-Moghadam, director of IHRNGO, condemned the executions and called for an international response to Iran's use of capital punishment. “The international community should not remain silent about the daily executions in Iran,” he said.
Amiri-Moghadam also urged world leaders meeting with Iranian officials at the United Nations General Assembly to make the issue of the death penalty a top priority.
"The use of the death penalty by the Islamic Republic should be central to any dialogue between Iranian officials and nations that uphold human rights," he added.
Some reports suggest that up to 36 prisoners transferred from other prisons have been executed at Shiraz Central Prison over the past two weeks. While the Iran Human Rights Organisation has confirmed 14 of these executions, it is still investigating reports of 17 others.
Activist jailed over dam criticism
Iranian environmentalist Yousef Farhadi Babadi has been summoned to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison to serve a one-year sentence, according to local media and rights activists on Farsi social media.
On Tuesday, Payame Ma newspaper reported that Babadi was given five days by the judiciary to turn himself in.
His conviction stems from his outspoken criticism of officials over the construction of the Kharsan 3 Dam on a river of the same name in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province.
Babadi had publicly revealed in interviews that the dam's construction bypassed legal procedures and lacked the required permits, warning that the project would lead to severe environmental damage.
Rights activists have quoted him as saying that he was tried without the opportunity to defend himself in court.
“It’s true that I was tried without a defence… but it seems I’ll be safer inside the prison. I won’t have to worry about a sudden accident, heart attack, drowning in a pool, or a bus plunging into a valley on its way to Armenia,” he said, referring to the suspicious deaths of other dissidents.
* Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
