IRAN PERSPECTIVE

Tehran puts at the center everything Washington leaves out: water. Two concrete reservoirs of 500 and 2,000 cubic meters, which supplied the town of Kuhestak and ten villages in the Bemani district of Hormozgan province, were 'completely destroyed' by US missiles before dawn. More than 20,000 residents are left without drinking water as the thermometer hovers between 45 and 50 degrees and the region lacks groundwater to compensate. Abdolhamid Hamzehpour, head of Hormozgan's water company, calls it an attack 'precisely' aimed at 'the infrastructure tied to people's daily lives and health,' which he brands 'flagrant terrorism.' Militarily, the Khatam al-Anbiya command says it retaliated jointly — army and Revolutionary Guards — against US bases in the region, and warns: 'If the terrorist American army repeats its aggression, more extensive and crushing attacks will be carried out against the pre-determined target bank.' Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insists 'Iran reserves the right to respond to US aggression,' and the country warns the IAEA against 'whitewashing' military aggression by becoming a 'political tool' of Washington. The framing is unwavering: Iran is the victim of 'unprovoked US-Israeli aggression,' its right to self-defense is sacred, and it is the adversary who shattered April's truce. In the background, the Iranian press also concedes, at the margins, the price paid by the population: as prices soar, 'Iranian diets shrink to survival level.'