Iran launches massive retaliatory strikes across the Middle East while Iranian media amplifies calls from global leaders for the U.S. to end the conflict. Domestically, the regime executed three individuals tied to the January protests, alongside coordinated state messaging projecting economic normalcy.
According to conservative outlet Khorasan Online, Iran launched a massive wave of retaliatory strikes across the region, creating a "complete fireworks display" to shatter continuous American and Zionist claims that Iran's military and missile capabilities were destroyed in the March 16 strikes. The channel reports that Iranian operations targeted an oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, an American refinery in the Red Sea, gas pipelines in Libya, and energy arteries in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar. The strikes also heavily damaged the Bahrain-Saudi land bridge and included Hezbollah firing a 200-kilometer range missile for the first time. Expanding the psychological front to U.S. soil, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) affiliated Sepah Pasdaran channel highlighted a Washington Post report that unidentified drones have repeatedly flown over the Fort McNair military base in Washington, prompting U.S. officials to consider relocating Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
On the diplomatic front, Iranian state media is aggressively amplifying global criticism of the U.S.-led coalition's military campaign. State-run news agency IRNA highlighted an op-ed by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who declared that "America has lost control over its foreign policy" and urged U.S. allies to help pull Washington out of the illegal war against Iran. Political commentary channel AkharinTwiit interpreted Albusaidi's remarks as proof that U.S. policy is controlled by Israel, framing the situation as a swamp from which Donald Trump desperately needs an exit strategy. Meanwhile, Khorasan Online noted that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who previously supported the strikes against Iran, is now demanding an immediate end to the military conflict because the U.S. and Israel have no convincing plan for success. Additionally, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei praised the alleged resignation of U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent. Baghaei stated that Kent stepped down because the war was launched due to Israeli pressure and its American lobby against an Iran that posed no threat to the American nation.
Domestically, the Iranian judiciary executed three individuals connected to the deadly January civilian protests. IRNA reported that the sentences of Qisas, or retribution in kind, and execution were carried out Thursday morning in Qom. The individuals were convicted of the murder of two FARAJA police officers, Abbas Asadi and Mohammad Qasemi Hamapour, and of carrying out operational acts in favor of the Zionist regime and the hostile U.S. government. Sepah Pasdaran echoed this, explicitly referring to the condemned as rioters who attacked the self-sacrificing officers with swords and machetes during the Dey 18 riots.
Amidst the backdrop of a collapsing banking sector and sweeping regional war, state-aligned regional networks including Tehran Today, East Azerbaijan Today, and Kurdistan Today published highly coordinated messages projecting domestic normalcy. The channels announced that the Social Security Organization successfully completed the payment of Esfand pensions for over 5.1 million retirees and pensioners by Thursday morning.
The source channels consistently refer to the U.S. Secretary of Defense as the 'Secretary of War' and frame the January protesters as 'rioters' operating on behalf of the 'Zionist regime.' Khorasan Online also references a resignation by a U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Director named 'Joe Kent,' presenting it as a significant internal U.S. governmental fracture over the conflict.