On Monday Afternoon in Tehran
On a warm Monday afternoon, under the marble arches of the Parsian Esteghlal Hotel in northern Tehran, President Saud Pezhakian entered the conference hall accompanied by a modest security detail. The hall was filled with families — men, women, and children — many bearing the visible scars of grief. They had all been touched, in one way or another, by the 12-day war with Israel. Some had lost fathers. Others, sons. Others still had returned home to find nothing left of their homes.
This war, though brief in days, had left wounds that would linger for decades.
The meeting wasn’t announced through the typical government channels. No grand televised coverage. No state media frenzy. It had been arranged quietly, through community networks and civil organizations, with an invitation extended directly to those most affected. For President Pezhakian, this was not a political maneuver. It was personal.
