TEHRAN – A new mural at Vanak Square in Tehran was unveiled on Tuesday, depicting the legendary Iranian character “Arash the Archer” (Arash-e Kamangir in Persian) ready to shoot his arrow, with missiles launched in the background, and a verse about Iran.

It is the latest artistic reaction to the Zionist regime's attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, which has been followed by the Islamic Republic’s armed response to the aggressors, ILNA reported.

The verse reads: “For the sake of Iran, I put my life in the bow, the arrows of the kind of Arash will split the sky”. The mural and the verse together convey the will and resistance of the nation against any aggression.

Legend has it that Arash was the best archer in the Persian army. He was selected to settle a land dispute between Persia and Turan (present-day Central Asia).

When the kings of the two lands - Manouchehr and Afrasiyab - decided to settle their dispute and set a permanent boundary between Persia and Turan, they arrived at a mutual understanding that Arash should climb to the tall Mount Damavand’s peak, and from there shoot an arrow toward the east. Wherever his arrow landed, they agreed, would determine the boundary between the two kingdoms.

Arash shot his arrow (Tir) on the 13th day of the Persian month of Tir, which fell on the banks of the Jeyhun (the Oxus) River. Thus, the borders of the two countries were marked.

Legend has it that as soon as the border dispute was settled, rain began pouring down on both lands, which had been suffering from an eight-year drought.

In the early hours of June 13, Israel launched an unprovoked, large-scale armed attack against Iran. This was an egregious act of aggression by every definition. Since then, through coordinated air, missile, and drone strikes, it has targeted residential neighborhoods, civilian infrastructure, public authorities, and nuclear facilities subject to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, which has resulted in the martyrdom of senior military commanders, prominent scientists, and innocent civilians, including women and children.

In response to the Israeli aggression on Iranian territory, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has launched a large-scale retaliatory operation, codenamed “True Promise 3,” targeting multiple Israeli military and air bases through coordinated missile and drone strikes deep inside occupied territories.

SS/SAB