Iranians Respond to Failed Attack on Israel With Social Media Memes

Iranians responded to their government’s failed attack on Israel by creating and sharing memes on social media on October 1, according to Iran International.

Iran launched its largest-ever missile attack on Israel on October 1, sending approximately 180 missiles into Israel at the orders of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claiming it was in response to the assassinations of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in July, both of which they claim Israel is responsible for.

The majority of the missiles were intercepted by Israeli Iron Dome air defense systems, although some reportedly hit military bases, restaurants, and schools, which fueled the Iranian population’s creation of memes mocking the government’s failed attempt.

Iranians took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to make videos and pictures of the intercepted attacks with jokes about malfunctions with the launches of missiles, and Iran’s inability to hit targets in Israel.

Newsweek has reached out to the Islamic Republic of Iran Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment via email outside of business hours.

One user, Subutay, posted a depiction of Supreme Leader Khamenei holding a rocket launcher facing backward, which is serving as a metaphor signifying that it fired toward Iran, according to Iran International.

Another post of a video showing people celebrating the missile attack in Qom, in which a fireworks display went wrong, and some exploded in the crowd, and the user Mostafa Azarniya wrote, “The casualties from this celebration were higher than those from the attack on Israel” with a laughing emoji.

One user also mocked an Iranian military leader, as the user Uncle Sam posted a video of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) chief Hossein Salami celebrating the missile launch with other military personnel, joking that they appeared amazed that the rocket fired, and he reportedly wrote, “The fool—it’s the first time in his life he’s seen how a missile works, and yet he’s called a commander,” according to Iran International.

X users from other countries also mocked Iran’s failed retaliation against Israel, as one user, SawantSunilS, with Indian flags in their account name, wrote, “Iran attacks Israel . . . . . . With 2% kill ratio” accompanied by a gif of a man laughing.

Another user, Jay Lampert, who appears to be American, posted a gif of a boxer accidentally punching himself in the face with the caption, “Today’s Iranian attack on Israel in a GIF.”

Israeli accounts have also allegedly been creating and sharing memes of Iran’s Supreme Leader’s failed attack on Israel, and X user SENYO shared some of the pictures in this post.

The IRGC has said that 90 percent of the projectiles fired had hit their targets, in direct contrast to the claims of Israel Aerospace Industries and the Iranian social media memes.

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