Fear and Fearlessness in Iran

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In Iran, since February 28, when Operation Roaring Lion (Israel) and Operation Epic Fury (the U.S.) began, the IDF has managed to assassinate nine of Iran’s most senior leaders, both clerical and military. Two of the most recent to be killed were Ari Larijani, the head of the Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, the leader of the Basij militia that has carried out the mass murder of protesters. But their killing, while frightening the regime, has emboldened the people they have been tormenting. When the government called on the public to attend the public mourning for Larijani and Soleimani, many people did not show up, but instead chose to celebrate a pre-Islamic holiday and to celebrate, as well, the latest killing of their tormentors. “Iranians mark Festival of Fire with rare public celebrations as Basij under pressure – analysis,” by Amichai Stein, Jerusalem Post, March 18, 2026:

For the first time since the outbreak of hostilities, the Iranian street did not respond with state-mandated mourning on Wednesday. Instead, thousands poured into the squares of Tehran and other Iranian cities, celebrating not only the traditional Iranian Chaharshanbe Suri, the “Festival of Fire,” but also the systematic dismantling of the forces that have long held them captive.

The celebrations were fueled by news of the elimination of Iran’s top security chief, Ali Larijani, and the head of the Basij repression unit, Gholamreza Soleiman [sic], figures widely regarded as the architects of the brutal crackdown on protesters last January.

“The celebrations we are seeing in the streets are not just for Chaharshanbe Suri,” said Tamar Eilam Gindin, an Iran expert at the Ezri Center of the University of Haifa. “The people are celebrating the killing of the two. To the Iranian public, Larijani was the face of the January massacre.”

In an address to the Iranian people on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a direct message: “Celebrate, and a happy Nowruz,” he said. “We are watching from above.”

“Our aircraft are hitting the terror operatives on the ground – in the intersections, in the city squares. This is meant to enable the brave people of Iran to celebrate the Festival of Fire without fear.”…

The Basij are running scared. The IDF has been hitting them at their open-air meetings. The latest IDF feat was to kill 300 Basij at the Azadi stadium to which they had been summoned by their leaders. They are being killed, too, at each of more than 2,000 checkpoints that they man — two to four Basij at every strike. The resulting fear is palpable. Basiji are leaving their assigned checkpoints and other posts, and running away.

After killing nine of Iran’s senior leaders, both military and clerical, in less than since February 28, including the supreme leader, another round of IDF assassinations should send those who remain alive into a panic. The killing of thousands of Basij at checkpoints has also frightened those enforcers for the regime, causing some to simply walk away from their jobs and others to remain, but scared and unhappy. Every such kinetic attack has a psychological effect on Iranians. The regime’s oppressors become ever more fearful, and the people they oppress ever less so. And so, at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Photo Credit: Creative Commons.