Arab Social Media Users Rejoice Over Burning of Iconic Tehran Building

Iran’s oldest high-rise, the 15-storey Plasco building in downtown Tehran, collapsed liv
Twitter
Ali Waked

The destruction of Iran’s iconic Plasco building on Thursday has become the talk of the day on Arab social media.

AFP reported on the destruction:

The 15-story high-rise, Iran’s oldest, collapsed live on TV after a fire engulfed its top floors.

The building, dating from the early 1960s and including a shopping centre and clothing workshops, had been evacuated, but firefighters were battling the blaze inside and it was not immediately clear if there were casualties.

Local media had earlier reported 30 people were injured by the initial fire, before the building crumbled.

The Plasco building was the first high-rise and shopping centre in Tehran and was the city’s tallest building when it was finished in 1962, until it was dwarfed by the construction boom of later years.

It was built by Habibollah Elghanian, a prominent Iranian-Jewish businessman who was arrested for ties to Israel and sentenced to death after the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran’s detractors were quick to rejoice and launch a hashtag, #Tehran_burning, which was used mainly by Saudis.

The Syrian Omar Madaniah wrote: “Here’s another angle of the collapsing building in Tehran. If only Khamenei was in it.”

“A 15-storey building collapses in Tehran,” Fahd Almugir, identified a Saudi, tweeted. “The owner is an Iranian Jew, and so many deaths. Allah, you made us so happy with [former President Akbar Hashemi] Rafsanjani’s death [last week], now you’ve made us happy again.”

User Unity Supervisor alluded to the battle of Aleppo, which ended last month with a victory for the Iranian-backed Syrian army: “Allah have mercy on the victims, but let us not forget that when Aleppo went up in flames people handed out sweets on the streets of Tehran.”

Waheed Alwdnaany tweeted: “It’s really hard not to rejoice when you hear them weeping and crying for help. Allah please continue imposing these disasters on them.”

Tehran is burning,” Wasn Faysal tweeted. “It’s heart-warming to hear that.”

Habbas Almuteiri tweeted: “Schadenfreude is foreign to us. We don’t have a problem with the oppressed Iranian people. Our problem is with the criminal regime. Most of the victims are innocent.”

“On [United States President Barack] Obama’s last day in office, a strange tragedy hits Tehran,” Mamduh Alharbi tweeted. “A whole building collapses. The Prophet’s blessings.”

Nimer tweeted: “Inshallah all of Tehran’s ayatollahs will be burned to the last one, and may the first be Khamenei.”

https://twitter.com/nemerelnemer6/status/822014038007808000

Azuz Alruqi wished the same to Russia: “Inshallah Russia will have the same fate soon. Inshallah they will incur tragedies without end.”

https://twitter.com/Aziz_______511/status/822014210834046977

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