Tehran (AFP) – Iranians called for revenge on Friday demanding a swift response to a dizzying wave of strikes by Israel, as some took to the streets in protest, while others sheltered inside, unsure what would happen next.
The aerial onslaught killed several of the military's top brass, targeted an array of leading scientists and struck military and nuclear sites across Iran in an unprecedented attack that left many seething with anger.
"How much longer are we going to live in fear?" asked Ahmad Moadi, a 62-year-old retiree. "As an Iranian, I believe there must be an overwhelming response, a scathing response."
The raids appeared to push the longtime enemies into full-blown conflict following years of fighting a shadow war mostly conducted through proxies.
Iran regularly arrests individuals it accuses of spying for Israel amid a flurry of targeted assassinations and acts of sabotage targeting its nuclear programme in recent years.
At least six scientists involved in Iran’s nuclear programme were killed in Friday's strikes.
"They’ve killed so many university professors and researchers, and now they want to negotiate?" Moadi exclaimed, referring to calls for Iran to go ahead with nuclear talks with Israel's US ally planned for this weekend.
As Iran continued to assess the damage, some residents rallied in the streets of Tehran chanting: "Death to Israel, death to America," while waving Iranian flags and portraits of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
State television said similar demonstrations were held in cities across the country.
The Israeli strikes followed repeated threats from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who appeared to finally cap a years-long quest to strike Iran’s nuclear programme.
"We can't let this bastard continue, or we'll end up like Gaza," Abbas Ahmadi, a 52-year-old Tehran resident, told AFP from behind the wheel of his car.
"Iran must destroy him, it must do something."
Friday's attacks came after more than a year of soaring tensions as Israel took on Iran's regional allies Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Huthis in Yemen.
Amid the tensions, Israel and Iran exchanged aerial barrages on two separate occasions last year. while stopping short of a full-scale war.
But following Friday’s attack, all bets were off over what would come next, with Khamenei warning Israel faced a "bitter and painful" fate, while the Iranian military said there would be "no limits" to its response.
Apart from scattered protests, Tehran's streets were largely deserted, except for queues at petrol stations, a familiar sight in times of crisis.
Air traffic was halted at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport amid disruption across the region.
In the upscale district of Nobonyad in north Tehran, rescuers continued to comb through the rubble of two apartment blocks targeted in Israeli strikes.
Families with tear-streaked faces gathered nearby.
"They want to deprive us of our nuclear capability — that's unacceptable," said Ahmad Razaghi, 56, calmly echoing the official line.
For Farnoush Rezaei, a 45-year-old nurse wearing a colourful hijab, Friday’s attacks represented a final act by Israel -- a country "on its last breath".
Iranian leaders have for decades insisted that Israel will "soon" disappear. "If God wills it, at least a bit of peace will come from this," said Rezaei.