TEHRAN, Oct 2: On the streets of Tehran, a small crowd celebrated Iran's missile attack on Israel while others are worried about the consequences of the Islamic Republic's boldest move yet in a year of escalating Middle East conflict.
Local media carried footage of what Iran said were 200 missiles as they were fired towards Israel on Tuesday evening, while state television played upbeat music over the images and showed crowds of a few hundred people celebrating the attacks in the capital and other cities across the country.
They carried Iranian, Palestinian and Lebanese flags, as well as the flag of Iran-allied Hezbollah, alongside portraits of its chief Hassan Nasrallah, killed in an Israeli air strike last week, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was assassinated in Tehran in July.
The crowd chanted slogans of "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", while some set fire to Israeli flags.
At a gathering in central Tehran on Wednesday, 22-year-old university student Fatemeh Marzban said she felt "satisfied" with Iran's retaliation to a series of Israeli blows.
"Last night's operation made many people on the resistance front happy," Marzban said, as she thanked Iran's military for the attack.
But Israel's vow to avenge the missile attacks, backed by similar threats from the United States, has unsettled some people who fear the country stumbling into a full-blown war through tit-for-tat reactions.
"I am really worried because if Israel wants to take retaliatory measures, it will lead to an expansion of the war," said Mansour Firouzabadi, a 45-year-old nurse in Tehran. "Everyone is worried about it."
Analysts see the Iranian missile strike as a consequence of a string of setbacks suffered by Tehran and its strategy of building up allies across the region in Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah chief Nasrallah was killed alongside Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Abbas Nilforoushan.
Ali Vaez from the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think-tank, said Iran took "a calculated risk in April" when it fired missiles and drones at Israel, most of which were intercepted, in its first ever direct attack.
The barrage was ordered after an Israeli air strike on Iran's consulate in the Syrian capital Damascus which killed two Iranian generals.
"Now, with an even bolder move (on Tuesday), the regime's actions reflect the deepening challenges it faces as its most critical partners have been weakened on multiple fronts," Vaez said.
"Failing to respond might have further eroded its credibility with these allies, giving the impression that Tehran was content to remain passive", he said.
Menwhile, Israeli forces battled Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Wednesday, with Israel announcing the first death of a soldier since it launched cross-border raids.
Confirmation of the fighting in two border areas came hours after Iran launched its second-ever direct attack on Israel, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn the Islamic republic would pay for its "big mistake".
Hezbollah backer Iran in turn said it would launch an even bigger attack if Israel makes good on its pledge to hit back, defying calls to de-escalate in a war that has already cost more than 1,000 lives in Lebanon since last week.
Israel shifted its focus last month from the war in Gaza, which was sparked by the October 7 attacks by Iran-backed Hamas, to securing its northern border with Lebanon, where it is fighting Hezbollah.
A day after the Israeli military said its troops had started "targeted ground raids" in southern Lebanon, it announced the first death of a soldier in combat across the border since the Israel-Hezbollah war erupted.
Israel kept up its bombardment of Hezbollah's main bastion in south Beirut, where it dealt the militant group a seismic blow last week by killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah in a massive strike. —AFP
