THE DAILY BEAST
Iran’s tightly controlled state media made fun of Israel’s reprisal attack on Friday, claiming that a few drones had been intercepted and no serious damage was done—with a top Israeli minister appearing to agree.
World capitals have been on edge since Iran launched an unprecedented direct attack on Israel last week, with President Joe Biden among those pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to respond with a direct attack on Iran.
Late on Thursday, U.S. rolling news channels switched into breathless global conflict mode as reports emerged that Israel had dismissed the urgent advice of the White House and launched a strike on Israeli soil.
The New York Times reported that Israeli and Iranian officials had confirmed Israel’s military response, writing that sources in Iran claimed a military air base near Isfahan, in central Iran, had been struck. CNN and others quoted American officials saying Israel had carried out a military strike inside Iran.
This was the nightmare scenario that global leaders feared could spark an all-out regional war.
Just hours earlier, a top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander claimed that Iran would even reconsider its peaceful nuclear doctrine in the face of threats from Israel.
And Iran’s foreign minister appeared on CNN himself to issue a blood-curdling threat over a potential Israeli retaliation. “In case the Israeli regime embarks on adventurism again and takes action against the interests of Iran, the next response from us will be immediate and at a maximum level,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said.
What happened next was very different.
As reports of the Israeli attacks grabbed world headlines, an extraordinary segment unfolded on Iran’s pro-regime Press TV, where correspondent Gisoo Misha Ahmadi totally dismissed Israel’s retaliation.
“I would suggest our viewers—if they want to have a good laugh—they can check social media reports from citizens who are there, who are actually making fun of all the commotion that was made by Israeli media about a possible attack,” she said.
Ahmadi conceded that Iran is on a high state of alert and took down a series of drones that were approaching Iranian airspace but she claimed that was the extent of the threat.
