The name "Rising Lion" is to encourage liberal Iranians. Search for "Iranian flag" and you'll find two versions. The old flag, which Iranians in exile still fly, depicts a lion.
thomassmith65•7mo ago
After I posted this comment, I searched. Reuters disagrees with my explanation. They attribute 'rising lion' only to a biblical verse about 'the strength and power of Israel':
My explanation makes more sense but Reuters, one hopes, knows more about the situation than I do.
skinkestek•7mo ago
I think you're right—there’s a strange blind spot in mainstream media, even when spotting patterns should be their job.
I’ve followed the situation in Iran since "Women, Life, Freedom" started trending. I've also talked with Iranian women running street stands, and I still track updates on Threads, Bluesky, and YouTube.
From what I’ve seen, a lot of the people who seem authentically Iranian are openly supportive of the Israeli military operation. I’ve see memes showing Israeli and Persian lions shaking hands, or Persian lions cutting the Islamic symbol out of the Iranian flag.
I can’t say for sure whether it’s grassroots or bots—but someone is definitely posting lots of it.
So, either Israel is pushing this narrative really hard, or there’s a genuine groundswell among Iranians who’ve seen something in that codename and decided run with it.
_wire_•7mo ago
Sounds purely defensive.
thomassmith65•7mo ago
thomassmith65•7mo ago
https://reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-takes-name-iran...
My explanation makes more sense but Reuters, one hopes, knows more about the situation than I do.
skinkestek•7mo ago
I’ve followed the situation in Iran since "Women, Life, Freedom" started trending. I've also talked with Iranian women running street stands, and I still track updates on Threads, Bluesky, and YouTube.
From what I’ve seen, a lot of the people who seem authentically Iranian are openly supportive of the Israeli military operation. I’ve see memes showing Israeli and Persian lions shaking hands, or Persian lions cutting the Islamic symbol out of the Iranian flag.
I can’t say for sure whether it’s grassroots or bots—but someone is definitely posting lots of it.
So, either Israel is pushing this narrative really hard, or there’s a genuine groundswell among Iranians who’ve seen something in that codename and decided run with it.
My bet? A mix of both.