Missiles and negotiations: Iran 100 days into the war with US and Israel
Talks and projectile attacks have continued for months, and could last much longer absent a breakthrough. Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities remain defiant 100 days
Talks and projectile attacks have continued for months, and could last much longer absent a breakthrough. Tehran, Iran – Iranian authorities remain defiant 100 days into the war launched by the United States and Israel as no lasting resolution appears in sight, and civilians bear the brunt of a conflict that has roiled global markets. On the streets of the capital, Tehran, most shops are open, although not with as many customers as before. Traffic has been restored, but only partially, since millions of jobs have either been suspended or eliminated after nationwide protests, aerial bombardment and two state-imposed internet shutdowns over the past several months. Armoured vehicles, heavy weaponry and security forces continue to be common sights in the metropolis of about 10 million people at all hours of the day. At night, armed forces are setting up numerous checkpoints across the city, escorting motorcades of state supporters blasting religious slogans. Main squares and many streets are typically closed so that people can gather, often heard chanting slogans against the US and Israel. Pro-government messaging and flags of the Lebanese group Hezbollah and other members of the Tehran-backed “axis of resistance” are widely featured in banners and billboards across Iran. Some vehicles and city murals bear images of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was selected as supreme leader by a clerical body after the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war. Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded in the same US-Israeli strikes that killed his father and other family members, has not been seen or heard from publicly since taking the helm, except for written messages attributed to him.
The authorities have yet to hold funeral processions for Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for nearly 37 years. His family members were buried a week ago, and other top commanders and officials killed on February 28 were also buried months later. Concerns about assassination and intelligence leaks remain high, keeping the parliament closed, except for a handful of limited or online sessions. Universities and schools have also remained shut, and many deferred exams are expected to be held online. A number of police forces are working from desks set up in the streets after their stations were bombed. But the institutions of the Islamic Republic survived and remain in power, as do many officials, including leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who have continued to heavily disrupt the flow of energy and goods through the Strait of Hormuz while fighting off the US blockade of Iran’s ports. After roughly 40 days of intense war and thousands of strikes, followed by months of tense “ceasefire” that has now included overnight exchanges of fire for more than a week, an interim deal to reopen the strategic waterway has not materialised. Any longer-term peace deal seems further out of reach. ‘Missiles, not negotiations’ On Sunday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran hosted Pakistan’s interior minister, the mediating country which itself was hosting an envoy from Lebanon, in an attempt to bridge gaps over Hezbollah and other issues with the US. In an editorial on Sunday marking the 100-day milestone, the hardline Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief was appointed by Ali Khamenei, said the experience has taught the system that “America retreated because of missiles, not negotiations”.
The BriefWire