Iran, with the wounds of repression still fresh, fractured as it faces military strikes

"The Shia cleric especially admires Victor Hugo. He has called Les Miserables the best novel ever written: a miracle; a book of history, criticism, love, and feeling. Its protagonist, Jean Valjean, returns to the righteous path thanks to the forgiveness and compassion of a religious figure: Bishop Myriel. Les Miserables is a tale of piety and redemption."

"The more than 7,000 dead, whose names were identified by the NGO Hrana in a report released last Monday; the nearly 30,000 wounded, hundreds of whom have been blinded by metal pellets; the over 53,000 detained and the 26 young men already sentenced to death have caused profound trauma among the country's population."

"This open wound is now threatened by the indiscriminate violence of a military operation that will also affect ordinary Iranians. This is what happened last June, when around 1,000 civilians perished in 12 days of supposedly surgical Israeli bombings in Iran, according to the official IRNA news agency, which were later joined by U.S. strikes."

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an educated man familiar with Western literature including Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, admires themes of redemption and compassion. However, his regime contradicts these values through violent suppression of protesters. Following nuclear negotiations in Geneva, the United States and Israel attacked Iran. The crackdown resulted in over 7,000 identified deaths, nearly 30,000 wounded, over 53,000 detained, and 26 death sentences. Khamenei referenced Karbala, symbolizing resistance in Shia Islam. The regime's indiscriminate violence continues affecting civilians, with previous Israeli and U.S. military operations killing approximately 1,000 civilians in twelve days. Iranians face dual trauma from internal state violence and external military strikes.

Read at english.elpais.com