Hardline Iranian officials have called for retaliation against U.S. attack, while many citizens blamed their own government's policies for bringing war to Iran.
MP Amir Hossein Sabeti dismissed Iranian concerns about damage to Fordow nuclear facility as a "diversionary debate."
He said, "America has officially entered the war with Iran", and warned that "without a firm response, Iran's deterrence will be destroyed."
Another lawmaker, Hamid Rasaei, called for attacks on U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia..
He wrote on X, "In response to American aggression, attacking anywhere will not hurt America except U.S. bases in Saudi Arabia. This is not just one target - it's one arrow with multiple targets."
Rasaei said the level of damage was irrelevant. "America has attacked the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear centers in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan."
He added, "What level this attack was at doesn't matter and is a secondary issue. What is important and fundamental is the violation of Iran's airspace, aggression against our soil for the second time ... it must be met with a harsh and heavy response."
Former Iranian official Ata'ollah Mohajerani also called for withdrawing from the NPT, listing reasons including: "1- Two countries with nuclear weapons have attacked Iran's nuclear centers. 2- The agency has not condemned the attacks. 3- The agency director has become a suspicious pawn in the hands of Israel and America. 4- Israel has not joined the treaty. 5- North Korea has withdrawn from the treaty. 6- Article 10 allows withdrawal."
Others have also called for Iran to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and build weapons.
“Since the NPT has brought us no benefit or deterrence, withdraw from it,” wrote the Islamic Republics' supporter and analyst Ali Akbar Raefipour, suggesting Iran should “build 20 tactical bombs with 400 kilograms” of enriched uranium.
Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for parliament's national security commission, warned American forces in the Persian Gulf.
"We will break your backs, you will regret it," he wrote on social media.
Rezaei referred Iranian missile commanders and scientists, writing: "Our God is the God of Nader Mahdavi, our missiles are the missiles of Hajizadeh and Tehrani Moghaddam."
He said: " Inshallah [God willing] ... we will break your back, you will regret it."
He added, "Bring a sufficient number of coffins with you, along with the B2. We are not willing to bury the bodies of American soldiers on the pure soil of Iran."
Ali Akbar Velayati, advisor to Supreme Leader Khamenei said, "Trump showed that like Netanyahu, he carries out his actions on the international stage without thinking and against America's interests, but the Strait of Hormuz has a fundamental difference with the Panama Canal."
He added, "There will no longer be a place for America and its bases in the region and the Islamic world."
President Masoud Pezeshkian said the US “must receive response to its aggression”
Iran has already launched retaliatory strikes against Israel.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said its most recent missile attacks targeted Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, research facilities and "support bases and various layers of control and command centres," according to the Tasnim news agency.
Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, a relative of Khamenei and former head of the foreign press office at the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance said, "Do you agree that if America and Israel do not immediately end the war, do not commit to permanently stopping their evil actions against Iran, sanctions are not lifted and our enrichment rights are not officially recognized, Iran should withdraw from the NPT and proceed to build an atomic bomb? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of this action?"
Ali Shamkhani, a senior advisor to Khamenei, said, "Even if nuclear sites are destroyed, game isn’t over, enriched materials, indigenous knowledge, political will remain. With legitimate defense right, political and operational initiative is now with the side that plays smart, avoids blind strikes. Surprises will continue!
But on social media, Iranians expressed a different view, with many blaming their leadership for "gambling with citizens' lives."
“What was bombed wasn’t just your nuclear sites, it was 30 years of Iranian people’s lives that you gambled away. Most incompetent, most unqualified government,” wrote one user.
Others expressed frustration with Iran’s inability to defend itself.
“They came to the middle of the country’s airspace without any problem, did their bombing, and left,” another user wrote.
“What about peaceful energy? What did this peaceful energy bring us except sanctions, bombing, and humiliation?”
Others argued nuclear weapons wouldn’t destroy Iran.
“Iran is in Ferdowsi, not in Fordow. And Ferdowsi cannot be destroyed with bombs,” one user wrote, referencing the Persian poet.
Many expressed the psychological toll of living under constant threat.
“Here every day feels like a month. Here, minutes drag on. Here, every time they attack, until you hear from your friends, thousands of terrible scenarios come to mind. We’re stuck here.”
Some criticized pro-government voices still using aggressive rhetoric while the economic impact weighed heavily on many minds.
“I have to go to the bank now for a check worth 48.5 million tomans to see if it will pass or not,” one person wrote.
Another user wrote, "Play with the lives of 80 million Iranians. When our strength is not enough, it makes no sense to continue this one-sided war."
Both the Isalmic Republic's supporters and opponents appeared united in their concern about the immediate consequences for ordinary Iranians.
President Donald Trump said American forces hit facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, saying Iran's key nuclear sites were "completely and fully obliterated."
“We have completed our very successful attack on the three nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and [Isfahan],” Trump said in a White House address.
“There will be either peace or there will be tragedy for Iran far greater than we have witnessed over the last eight days. Remember, there are many targets left,” Mr Trump added.
Condemning the attacks as “outrageous”, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said that America’s actions will have “everlasting consequences”.
There is “no danger” to Iranians living near the Fordow nuclear facility, Iranian authorities have said.
The Crisis Management Headquarters in the province of Qom, where the enrichment plant is located, said in a statement that “there is no danger to the people of Qom and the surrounding area,” according to Iran’s official news agency.
Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran said the strikes were a “barbaric act that violated international law, especially the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty”.
Araghchi said Israel and the US have “blown up” diplomacy with their airstrikes in recent weeks.
He responded to calls from the UK and EU for Iran to “return” to the negotiating table, by saying Iran had never left it, nor “blew [it] up”.
In a post on X, he said: “Last week, we were in negotiations with the US when Israel decided to blow up that diplomacy.
“This week, we held talks with the E3/EU when the US decided to blow up that diplomacy. What conclusion would you draw?
“To Britain and the EU High Rep, it is Iran which must “return” to the table. But how can Iran return to something it never left, let alone blew up?”
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