Iranians slam state TV for downplaying Israeli strike, promoting escalation

Iran’s state broadcaster (IRIB) has sparked public anger by downplaying Israel’s overnight strikes on Iranian military targets Saturday while encouraging further escalation of the conflict.

Critics argue that IRIB has overstepped in downplaying the scope and impact of Israel’s strikes on Iran’s military installations, even by its own standards, reducing its coverage to little more than ultra-hardliner propaganda.

In the past few years, the vast state-funded organization whose head is appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has been under the complete sway of the ultra-hardliner Paydari (steadfastness) Party and the allies of the former nuclear negotiator and presidential candidate Saeed Jalili.

Jalili’s brother, Vahid Jalili, a known member of the Paydari Party, is currently the cultural affairs and policy development deputy of IRIB.

Ultra-hardliners have been demanding a full-on war with Israel despite the very dire consequences that deepening of the conflict with Israel may have for the nation and the region. They have also been pushing for a change in Iran's “defense doctrine”, meaning to start building a nuclear bomb.

In a Sunday article titled “Israel’s Attack on Iran: Why Neither Exaggerate Nor Downplay,” the conservative Asr-e Iran website criticized the state broadcaster for segments in which presenters and guests downplayed the situation, treating the attacks as if they were trivial events and likening them to children playing on bonfire night.

In a program aired Saturday, the presenter mockingly challenged Israel to join Iran’s bonfire night, asserting that the firecrackers used by Iranian youth during the annual Charshanbeh Souri festival are far louder than Israel’s attack on Tehran that day.

In another program, hardline politician and former diplomat Mohammad-Javad Larijani used similar language, describing the outcome of Israel’s retaliation for Iran’s October 1 missile attack on Israel as “scandalous” due to its lack of impact. “Their move was like a firecracker game,” he remarked, emphasizing the failure to cause significant destruction.

Yet in another program, the presenter spoke emphatically about Iran’s response to Israel’s attack, as though it had already been decided.

"Doesn’t this country have a military command or Supreme National Security Council? To escalate tension and conflict, a few revolutionary-looking presenters and fabricated celebrities created by IRIB under [Saeed] Jalili claim that Iran's response to Israel’s insolence is certain," Mostafa Faghihi, chief editor of the conservative Entekhab website asked in a tweet. “Who are they that they have been able to turn the country’s official broadcaster into a center to put pressure on armed forces and officials?” Faghihi added.

In his first response to the Israeli attack on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei refrained from an outright call for retaliation and delegated the decision to “authorities”.

The Asr-e Iran article argued that downplaying the significance of Israel’s attack is just as misguided as exaggerating it, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has done. The piece contended that Israel had never conducted an operation of this scale against the Islamic Republic and was openly taking responsibility for the action.

Israel is widely known for conducting numerous clandestine operations in Iran, including explosions at military and nuclear facilities over the years and the assassination of a Hamas leader, often without officially acknowledging responsibility.

“What if there’s another strike in response in case of an Iranian counterattack, turning the situation into a game of ping-pong? Or if [Israel] becomes more emboldened after the US elections—if Trump wins or they get a green light from Harris? Can we still call [Saturday’s attack] a ‘firecracker game’ then?” Asr-e Iran wrote.