Iranian press review: Iran’s inaction over Israel’s war in Lebanon questioned by critics
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Thu, 06/04/2026 - 12:03
Meanwhile, a man receives a harsh sentence for anti-establishment protest footage, a writer argues that the war burst Dubai’s bubble, and a wave of espionage-related arrests sparks concern
The aftermath of Israeli air strikes in the Burj al-Chamali area near the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon, 2 June 2026 (Kawnat Haju/AFP)
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Iranian establishment criticises 'silence' on Lebanon
Iran’s inaction over Israel’s escalating war on Lebanon has drawn criticism from figures within the Iranian establishment.
Iran had made ending Israeli attacks on Lebanon one of the main conditions for its ongoing ceasefire with the US. However, as the Israeli onslaught in Lebanon intensified in recent days, some media figures criticised what they described as Iran’s limited response, which was confined to condemnation and threats.
The Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), published comments by some of its experts on the issue, warning that continued lack of action could also be dangerous for Iran.
Ali Abdi, a hardline analyst, was among those who argued that Iran’s inaction could weaken its “popular support” in Lebanon.
He also foresaw that failing to respond to Israel’s continued killing in Lebanon could harm Iran’s position in the Strait of Hormuz and its ability to confront a US naval blockade.
Warning against the loss of territory held by groups that Iran refers to as the “Axis of Resistance”, a regional alliance opposed to Israel and US influence, he wrote: “We should not lose areas for fear of another war. If we lose areas of resistance today, tomorrow we will hear the sound of [the enemies’] jets in Tehran and the blockade will tighten.”
Seyyedeh Fatemeh Mousavi was another media figure who criticised the ceasefire between Tehran and Washington as “days of silence”.
Referring to Iran’s missile capabilities, she called for an end to that silence, writing: “Today, oppressed Lebanon is, more than ever, the victim of days spent in silence. Oppressed Lebanon is still waiting for the resistance front to recognise that negotiation is a trick and to break the silence with missiles.”
Ten-year prison sentence for protest video
An Iranian man has been sentenced to a decade in prison for recording a video of a protester defiantly sitting in the path of riot police motorbikes during demonstrations that took place in December 2025.
Massoud Piyaho went to prison on Tuesday to start his sentence, local media reported.
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The video was recorded in the early days of demonstrations that began in Tehran following the sudden collapse of the rial and spread across Iranian cities. Since the protests were crushed by authorities, officials say 3,117 people have been killed, although human rights groups argue that figure should be doubled.
Although Piyaho shared the video with only a few close people, it quickly spread through Farsi-language social media. Different versions of the footage were later recreated using AI as photos and videos and published by international media outlets.
Following the circulation of these images and videos, the protester featured in the footage became known as “Tehran’s Tank Man”, a reference to the iconic image of a lone man standing in front of tanks during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in China.
Piyaho’s lawyer, Hassan Aghakhani, said his client received the heavy sentence under harsher espionage penalties introduced following Israel’s attack on Iran in June 2025.
War on Iran burst the Dubai bubble, says author
The role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of the US and Israel's main allies in the war on Iran has triggered a wave of criticism in Iranian media. The criticism intensified after reports revealed Abu Dhabi's direct military involvement in the attacks on Iran.
In one article, conservative documentary filmmaker and author Reza Ostadi compared Dubai to a balloon that burst as a result of the recent war.
Ostadi described his experience in the UAE as living in a police state. He portrayed Dubai as “a highly secure city where we could feel the presence of police and security forces even in the elevators of apartment buildings”.
He also wrote about the impact of the recent war on expatriates living in Dubai, describing Iranian drone attacks on the city as a factor that “collapsed its fake luxury and artificial splendour”.
“The city that had pretended for the past 20 years to be a second home for the world’s wealthy is now collapsing,” Ostadi wrote. “As its expatriate residents fled, the historical reality of this fake city was being revealed.”
Lawyer questions wave of espionage arrests
Reports that thousands of people have been arrested in Iran on espionage charges since the start of the war have prompted growing criticism from lawyers, activists and commentators, with some questioning both the scale of the arrests and the circumstances behind them.
In response to the report that over 6,500 people had been arrested on accusations of spying for Israel and the US, Iranian lawyer Ali Mojtahedzadeh said such figures reflected a failure of the security apparatus rather than its strength.
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Assuming the official figures are accurate, Mojtahedzadeh wrote: “If we accept that such a large amount of anti-security activity has taken place in the country in recent weeks and months, the first question is how these networks were formed, how they grew, and why they were not identified before reaching a crisis stage.”
He also questioned the conditions that could lead such a large number of Iranians to cooperate with the country's enemies.
“Even if all these arrests are accurate and documented, one more important question still remains: what conditions make people in such large numbers act against the interests of their country?” he said.
Mojtahedzadeh argued that the rise in security-related cases should not be viewed only as a security issue. He said it also reflects a weakening of social ties and warned that focusing only on punishment would not address the underlying causes of the problem.
“If these roots are ignored, short-term measures may remove some individuals, but they will not solve the problem,” he concluded.
*Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by MEE.
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