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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi avoided addressing Israel’s attack on the country on Friday, opting instead to praise Tehran’s own attack on Israel last week.
Raisi described the recent attack on Israel as a “unifying” event that was supported across all Iranian political factions.
"All groups and political streams believe that the attack on Israel was a necessary action, unifying and a great honor for the country," Raisi stated during a visit to Damghan in central Iran.
His comments come as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards has put pressure on media and journalists not to write or publish anything critical of Tehran’s attack on Israel last weekend.
The IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency published a statement on X earlier this week that said the Guards were about to start "to deal with Israel's supporters on social media."
The statement called on citizens to turn in those who support Israel on social media.
While multiple reports confirmed that Israel had carried out an airstrike – the Iranian government quickly downplayed the claims, suggesting instead that the explosions were caused by the interception of microdrones by Iran's air defenses, attributing the incident to "infiltrators".
Tehran appeared to indicate that it has no plans for retaliation, in a likely bid to avoid a full-scale war with Israel.
That stance was echoed by a senior Iranian official who spoke to Reuters, who said "the foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack".
Israel has not yet confirmed its role in the attack on Iran, although it had previously announced intentions to retaliate.
Iran’s attack on Israel last weekend saw over 300 drones and missiles launched, with 99% of them intercepted by Tel Aviv and its allies.
