This article examines the specificities of the “Twelve-Day War” between Iran and Israel, uncovering its underlying logic and key characteristics. In its hostility toward the “absolute enemy,”[4] the Islamic Republic mirrors other Islamist movements in the region—Sunni or Shiite alike. A War Against PeopleThe Twelve-Day War was a peculiar kind of conflict, one from which all parties emerged claiming victory. Beyond the propagandas, this war has an undeniable achievement for both sides: the interstate war between Iran and Israel serves to obscure another, more insidious war. In fact, in this war, the Islamic Republic took its revenge on Iranian society itself.