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Iran strikes back
On Saturday, February 28, a large part of Iran’s territory was targeted in attacks carried out by the United States and Israel, with “explosions” reported by the Persian-language television channel Iran International based in London.
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Courrier international says several commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian political leaders were killed in an operation dubbed “Roaring Lion,” and it adds that the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the Iranian President, Massoud Pezeshkian, were targeted.
The same Courrier international account says Khamenei has been moved to a safe location outside Tehran and that Pezeshkian is safe and sound, while it notes that Iran International specifies that Iran “has closed its airspace” and that Israeli media Yediot Aharonot reports “sirens rang across the country.”
Courrier international also cites foreign newspapers reporting the death of at least 63 people killed by a strike on a southern Iranian school, while the extent of damage remains hard to measure for now, particularly regarding the civilian population.
US-Israel alliance frays
The Conversation frames the February 28 Israeli-American joint action as driving the United States into a strategic stalemate and says the conflict at this stage benefits Russia.
It adds that intelligence assessments described possible Iranian reactions, specifying that Tehran would focus on regional retaliation, targeting “American bases, Gulf allies, and critical energy chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz.”
The Conversation also quotes Alain Chouet, former head of the security intelligence service at the DGSE, recalling in a telephone interview that “Iran is not Iraq, not Somalia, not even Syria.”
In parallel, Libre Journal argues that Pew Research Center tracking shows Americans’ negative opinion of Israel rising from 42% to 60% since 2022, and it says that by 2026 Israel is viewed negatively by 70% of those aged 18-49, up from 42% in 2022.
Gaza war reshapes politics
Al-Arabi al-Jadeed reports that Democrats and Republicans are increasingly treating U.S. support for Israel as a divisive issue, citing a CNN poll in March that described nearly half of Republicans (47%) and three-quarters of Democrats (72%) as saying U.S. support for Israel is a problem within their parties.
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It says 40 members of the Senate last month voted for a resolution to block arms sales to Israel, compared with 27 members who voted in favor of a similar measure in July, and it quotes Adam Hamawi saying, “This is what America wants, and unfortunately the leadership of both parties hasn’t listened.”
Al-Arabi al-Jadeed also includes a quote from Abdul Sayed, the Democrat running for the U.S. Senate from Michigan, saying, “If you cannot name the Gaza genocide for what it is and face the interests of your party that tell you not to tell the truth about killing and targeting children, it will be hard to trust what your stance would be on stopping any other side.”
Noon Post argues that the destruction Israel inflicted on Gaza, the siege and starvation of the besieged Strip, and the rising violence of settlers in the occupied West Bank accelerated shifts in American politics, and it states that “for the first time, Americans view the Palestinians with more sympathy than they feel for Israelis.”
