IRAN PERSPECTIVE

Tehran, July 10, 2026. For Iranian authorities, the sequence of events is clear: the US has "broken its commitments" by striking southern Iran while the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was underway, an event that the Iranian military command describes as the "largest popular gathering in history." The Foreign Ministry refers to it as a "serious war crime," citing the destruction of two railway bridges on the road to Mashhad, the city where the dignitary's burial was to take place.

In retaliation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims to have destroyed 85 American targets: the Salman port in Bahrain, an area of the US Fifth Fleet, and the Ali al-Salem airbase in Kuwait, in addition to downing an MQ-9 Reaper drone. The Iranian Health Ministry reports 14 dead and 78 injured on the Iranian side during the US strikes on July 8 and 9.

A security source cited by Press TV mentions a new doctrine: any new attack on Iranian territory would result in the immediate and total closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a response "at a ratio of at least two to one." Maritime traffic in the strait, according to the IRGC, has already returned to about 50% of its pre-war level, but only for ships complying with transit permits issued by the Iranian navy. Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf warned on X: "If you strike, you will be struck."

This official narrative of defiance and national dignity coexists, however, with a darker reality described by testimonies collected by Iran International: a population exhausted after nearly four months of conflict, living "neither war nor peace," facing increasing economic pressure and permanent anxiety. Some citizens hope that this escalation will put an end to the conflict "at its root," while analysts like Mohsen Jalilvand believe that the entrenched positions of the two sides make a major confrontation more likely than a lasting agreement.