TEHRAN – The casualties of Israel’s unprecedented and unfair attacks on Iran are still unfolding within the country, indicating an increase in the number of people who lost their lives during the 12-day war.
Iranian judicial spokesman Asgal Jahangir announced on Monday that around 935 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike. More than 5,000 people remained injured.
Israel began the war on June 13th, claiming its main purpose was to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. This is an argument the administration has made for 20 years, and consistently says it will be “a few weeks away” for Iran to acquire them.
Neither the Western Intelligence Agency nor the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could demonstrate claims that Iran had pursued nuclear weapons prior to the attack. This, combined with other indicators and declarations from the Israeli regime and the United States, suggests that in fact it is intended to destabilize and defeat the Iranian government through the assassination of key military leaders, threatening the remaining officials, and incitement of popular unrest.
Israel assassinated several Iranian military commanders by striking their homes at the beginning of the war. According to Ali Larijani, a top advisor to leaders of the Islamic Revolution, they tried to eliminate Iran’s president, attorney and the Speaker of the Congress by attacking a trilateral meeting in Tehran. Furthermore, Hebrew media reports show that Israel tried to assassinate Iranian leader Ayatollah Seiyed Ali Khamenei, but could not find him.
Dozens of other officials, including Larijani himself, received calls from the occupying territories. Meanwhile, they were told to abandon the government and join the enemy regime if they valued their lives and the safety of their families. No official agreed to betray Iran.
The administration’s attempts to incite domestic unrest included propaganda campaigns primarily. A key element of this effort was known for featuring Mossad agents as an analyst on the Washington-based Persian Channel. This spread the message that war opposes the government, not the country itself, and that civilian death is the price necessary to pay “freedom.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself entered the fight and recorded a message to the Iranian people, where he repeated the same absurd claim that “people” were not placed on his cross. He even chanted “Women, Life, Freedom,” a slogan used during the 2022 protests within Iran. At least 102 women were pregnant during the Netanyahu war with Iran. Thirty-eight children were among the victims, but the youngest was only two months old.
On the deadliest strike against Iranian soil, Israel crashed into Evin Prison in northern Tehran in an attack called “symbolic.” At least 79 people died during the strike.
The civilians were the biggest casualties of the Israeli war with Iran. Naturally, estimates show that domestic anti-Israel sentiment has reached unprecedented levels since the establishment of the Zionist regime. Many young Iranians interviewed by reporters on the streets of Tehran said they believe Iran should continue to rain missiles in Israel.