Iran's supreme leader facing fury from within

Iran's supreme leader is facing growing anger from within the regime's ruling inner circle following Israel's attacks on the country's nuclear infrastructure.
Israel launched a wave of air strikes on Friday, killing top commanders and nuclear scientists, and bombing sites in an effort to stop Tehran building an atomic weapon.
In response Tehran fired a salvo of missiles at Israel, which were largely intercepted.
As hardliners continue to threaten vengeance against Israel and its allies in the wake of the strikes, there are signs of a deepening rift between Iran's extreme and moderate voices.
It has mainly been left to the hardliners to articulate Iran's official response.
The country's state-owned Fars News Agency, closely affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted a senior military official warning that, apart from attacking Israel, 'the war will spread to all parts of Israel and American bases in the region in the coming days, and the aggressors will be targeted with a decisive and widespread response'.
In an attempt to silence criticism of the regime's handling of the crisis, Mohseni Ejeie, Iran's chief judge cleric, issued a warning on Saturday that any Iranian citizen who posted comments on social media supporting Israel's attack would face sentences of up to six years in jail.
Even so, as criticism of the regime's handling of the crisis begins to surface, it is likely to find itself under pressure to explain its inability to defend the nation from Israel's assault, despite the vast sums it claims to have spent upgrading the Iranian military.
Private text messages shared with The New York Times reveal that some Iranian officials are questioning why Iran's air defences have not been more effective in repelling Israel's attacks, which hit its arsenal of ballistic missiles and assassinated senior figures in Tehran's military chain of command.
'Where is our air defence?' texted one official, while another asked: 'How can Israel come and attack anything it wants, kill our top commanders, and we are incapable of stopping it?'
Hamid Hosseini, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce's energy committee, said: 'Israel's attack completely caught the leadership by surprise, especially the killing of the top military figures and nuclear scientists. It also exposed our lack of proper air defence and their ability to bombard our critical sites and military bases with no resistance.'
Mr Hosseini also raised concerns about Israel's apparent infiltration of Iran's military and security forces, enabling it to conduct covert operations in Iran's armed forces and nuclear targets.
In its response to Israel's attack, Iran was also only able to muster 200 missiles, despite an order from Ayatollah Khamenei to launch a barrage of 1,000 and reports that Iran was planning a response in the event of an Israeli attack for over a week.
From the start of Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979, the battle between the regime's moderate faction, which seeks to adopt a less confrontational stance towards the West, and the ideological hardliners has been one of the regime's defining characteristics.
While Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country's supreme leader, remains the hardliners' undisputed head, Masoud Pezeshkian, the country's recently elected president, is viewed as representing the regime's more moderate wing.
To date, Mr Pezeshkian has kept a relatively low profile, condemning the Israeli attacks and calling for unity among the Iranian people, stating: 'Today, more than ever, the Iranian nation needs togetherness, trust, empathy, unity and consensus.'
Mr Pezeshkian's electoral victory over conservative hardliner Saeed Jalil last was seen as indicative of Tehran's desire to adopt a more constructive approach with the West, especially in terms of alleviating the sanctions that have hit the Iranian economy hard.
The regime's handling of the economy – where funds have been diverted to support military and terrorist operations instead of concentrating on domestic issues – has provoked mounting dissent throughout the country, and seen Khamenei under pressure to adopt a more conciliatory tone.
During the election campaign, Mr Pezeshkian, a 71-year-old heart surgeon and member of the Iranian parliament, was highly critical of Iran's repressive morality police.
He directly challenged the hardliners' approach by calling for 'unity and cohesion' in Iran, as well as calling for an end to Iran's 'isolation' from the outside world.
Mr Pezeshkian also campaigned in favour of engaging in 'constructive negotiations' with Western powers to agree a new deal over the country's nuclear programme, which Iran agreed to kerb in return for an easing of Western sanctions.
But while Mr Pezeshkian has tried hard to pursue a more moderate social and foreign policy since taking office, he has had to contend with the institutional resistance of the hardline faction, which regard any deal with the West concerning Iran's nuclear ambitions as tantamount to a sell-out.
One indication of the ideological struggle at the heart of the Iranian regime came in March when Mohammad Javad Zarif, the country's moderate former foreign minister, was forced to resign from his position as vice-president.
A close ally of Mr Pezeshkian, Mr Zarif's dismissal was said to be related to his opposition to Tehran's deepening alliance with Vladimir Putin, the leader of Russia, which he regarded as being counterproductive to Iran's diplomatic efforts to improve relations with the West.
While Israel's military assault against Iran means there is little prospect of Tehran improving relations with the West in the near future, the eruption of hostilities will nevertheless focus attention on the regime's internal wrangling, which could ultimately result in the regime's collapse.
For the moment, Iran's hardliners have taken charge of the country's military response to Israel's continuing offensive. But the longer Israel continues to attack key Iranian targets with impunity, the more pressure the hardliners will come under pressure to explain their abject failure to defend the country, a failing that ultimately could lead to their demise.
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

27 minutes ago

• Yahoo

The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes

The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat. Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. Still, European officials expressed hope for future negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue but stressed Tehran wasn't interested in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking. Here is the latest: Italians evacuated from Iran arrive in Azerbaijan The Italian foreign ministry said the 24 Italians are the second group to evacuate via Azerbaijan's Baku, on their way back home. 'After about nine hours of travel and a very long wait at the border, the group was welcomed by representatives of the Italian Embassy in Baku, and then moved to the airport of the Azerbaijani capital to wait to return to Italy with the first available flights,' the ministry said. The group included an Italian doctor and his partner, an Iranian woman and their 18-month-old child, the ministry said. Another convoy from Iran could depart from Tehran as early as Monday. The first group that arrived in Italy via Baku in recent days had 34 Italian nationals. Italy's foreign ministry also said it chartered a flight to help evacuate its citizens from Israel via Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday. Evacuees in Cyprus recall missiles flying overhead Noah Page says it's one thing to watch missiles crisscrossing the sky on the news and another to experience it firsthand. 'You see it on the news, you see everything, but you never really expect it to actually hit you when you're there,' the Ohio-native told the Associated Press. 'As someone who grew up in Canada, it's so foreign to me to even think about missiles or a war and you hear about it on the news and it's just so separate from you,' said the 23-year-old who didn't want to give her last name. "It sort of felt like fireworks at first until the reality of the situation set in. I need to run or I might end up hurt.' Page and Pe'er were among an estimated 1,500 other young people from around the world visiting Israel who were evacuated by cruise ship on Saturday to Cyprus, the closest European country to Israel, at around 270 kilometers. It was the second such trip by the cruise ship bringing people out while ferrying stranded Israelis back to their homeland. Florida native Alex Rosenblum had been in Israel before in times of war, when the sounds of sirens urging citizens to rush to shelters had become almost routine. But he says this time it was different. 'This situation with Iran has been a lot scarier because there's a big difference between a rocket and a missile,' he said. The three young people found safety in underground shelters when digital alerts were sent out. But Pe'er says you can never shake the feeling that you're in danger. Iran's Araghchi says it will be 'very dangerous' if US gets involved in war Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it would be 'very, very dangerous for everyone' if the United States becomes actively involved in the war with Israel. He spoke to reporters in Istanbul on his way home from talks in Geneva. Araghchi said American military involvement 'would be very unfortunate.' UN refugee agency calls for de-escalation The UNHCR said Saturday that the intensity of the attacks is already triggering population movements in Israel and Iran: Some from Tehran and other parts of Iran have crossed into neighboring countries while shelling has caused people in Israel to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and, in some cases, abroad. The agency urged states in the region to respect the right of people to seek safety where needed and to facilitate humanitarian access. 'This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement — we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,' the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. 'The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations.' Tehran vows to make Grossi 'pay' A senior adviser for Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed in a social media post Saturday to make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency 'pay' once the war with Israel is over. Ali Larijani's threat comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has become a major target for many Iranian officials who say his conflicting statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program incited the Israeli surprise attack last week. Grossi told the United Nations' Security Council Friday that while Iran has the material to build a nuclear bomb, it appears they have no plans to do so. The Associated Press

CNN

37 minutes ago

• CNN

‘Always a peacemaker': How Trump decided to hold off on striking Iran

By most accounts, President Donald Trump's attention for the past week has been consumed by the spiraling crisis playing out between Israel and Iran. In between meetings in Canada on Monday, he peppered aides for constant updates. He has spent more time in the basement Situation Room this week than at any point so far in his new presidency. So it was somewhat jarring Wednesday when the president emerged from the South Portico — not to provide an update on his crisis consultations, but to oversee the installation of two nearly 100-foot flagpoles. 'These are the best poles anywhere in the country, or in the world, actually. They're tapered. They have the nice top,' the president told a clutch of reporters and workmen. 'It's a very exciting project to me.' The break from his Iran meetings lasted about an hour, a moment for the president to literally touch grass on the South Lawn amid the most consequential period of decision-making of his term so far. A day later, the president decided not to decide. He dictated a statement to his press secretary Karoline Leavitt announcing he would hold off ordering a strike on Iran for up to two weeks to see if a diplomatic resolution was possible. The decision was revealed after another meeting in the Situation Room, where the president has spent much of this week reviewing attack plans and quizzing officials about the potential consequences of each. After steadily ratcheting up his martial rhetoric – including issuing an urgent warning to evacuate the 10 million residents of Iran's capital – Trump's deferment provides the president some breathing room as he continues to work through options presented by his military officials over the past several days. It also allows more time for the divergent factions of his own party to make their case directly to the president for and against a strike, as they have been urgently doing since it became clear Trump was seriously considering dropping bombs on Iran's nuclear facilities. The president has refused to pick a side in public and spent the last week alternating between militaristic threats issued on social media and private concerns that a military strike he orders could drag the US into prolonged war. Around the Situation Room table, he has relied principally on his CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine to discuss his options, according to people familiar with the matter. His foreign envoy Steve Witkoff has been corresponding with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to determine if room exists to restart the diplomacy that had been deadlocked before Israel began its campaign last week. Other officials have been publicly sidelined. Twice this week, Trump has dismissed assessments previously offered by his Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard about the state of Iran's program to develop a nuclear weapon. Gabbard testified in March that the US intelligence community had assessed Iran was not building such a weapon; Trump flatly and publicly disputed that Friday. 'Well then, my intelligence community is wrong,' Trump told reporters in New Jersey, asking the reporter who in the intelligence community had said that. Told that it was Gabbard, Trump responded, 'She's wrong.' Yet as he weighs taking action that could have consequences for years to come, Trump appears to be relying mostly on his own instincts, which this week told him to hit pause on ordering a strike that could alter global geopolitics for years to come. When top national security officials told Trump during a meeting at Camp David earlier this month that Israel was prepared to imminently strike inside Iran, it wasn't necessarily a surprise. Trump's advisers had been preparing for months for the possibility Israel could seize upon a moment of Iranian weakness — its regional proxies have been decimated over the past year — to launch a direct assault. Trump's team arrived at Camp David having already drawn up options for potential US involvement. According to people familiar with the matter, his advisers resolved differences between themselves in advance before presenting possible plans to the president. From the mountainside presidential retreat, Trump also spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told the president he intended to begin a campaign in Iran imminently. Ten days later, with the Israeli campaign now in full swing, Trump was meeting in Canada with top American allies from the Group of 7, who hoped to decipher from him what the American plan was going forward. In closed-door meetings, leaders from Europe tried to ascertain whether Trump was inclined to order up a US strike on Fordow, the underground nuclear facility that has been the focus of attention for American war planners, western officials said. They also tried to convince a begrudging Trump to sign on to a joint statement, which urged that 'the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East.' Trump did not reveal his hand, either in private sessions with individual leaders or over dinner at the Kananaskis Country Golf Course, the western officials said. Instead, he left the summit early, leaving his counterparts in the Canadian Rockies and returning to Washington to deal with the matter himself. By midweek, with only vague signs from Iran that it was willing to restart talks, Trump's patience appeared to wearing thin for finding a diplomatic solution. And many of his allies believed he was on the verge of ordering a strike on Iran. 'It's very late, you know?' he said at Wednesday's flagpole event, the heat causing his forehead to glisten. 'It's very late to be talking.' In private meetings that day, Trump appeared convinced of the necessity of taking out the Fordow facility, according to people familiar with the conversations. And he said in public only the United States has the firepower to do it. 'We are the only ones who have the capability to do it, but that doesn't mean I am going to do it,' Trump said after coming back inside from his flag raising. 'I have been asked about it by everybody but I haven't made a decision.' He was speaking from the Oval Office, where he'd gathered players from the Italian soccer club Juventus to stand behind him. They mostly acted as a fidgeting backdrop to Trump's question-and-answer session on his Iran decision-making. At one point, Trump turned to the players amid a discussion of the B-2 stealth bomber — the only jet that could carry a bunker-busting bomb to destroy Iran's underground enrichment facility. 'You can be stealthy — you'll never lose, right?' he asked the team members, none of whom responded. 'It was a bit weird. When he started talking about the politics with Iran and everything, it's kind of, like… I just want to play football, man,' one of the players, Timothy Weah, said afterward. Amid the string of events, Trump continued to weigh the choices in front of him, and remained worried about a longer-term war. And he continued to receive messages from all sides of his political coalition, which has been divided over the wisdom of launching a strike that could embroil the US in a war for years to come. He's taken repeated calls from GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a prominent voice in support of striking Iran who described the president as 'very focused, very calm' after a Tuesday night phone call. 'I feel like when he says no nukes for Iran, he means it,' Graham said the next day. 'He gave them a chance for diplomacy. I think they made a miscalculation when it comes to President Trump.' One of the most prominent voices opposing a strike, his onetime top strategist Steve Bannon, was at the White House midday Thursday for a lunch with the president that had been rescheduled from several weeks ago. He revealed nothing of his conversation with Trump on his 'War Room' show later Thursday. But a day earlier, he told a roundtable that getting involved in a drawn-out conflict with Iran would amount to repeating a historic mistake. 'My mantra right now: The Israelis have to finish what they started,' he said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast. 'We can't do this again. We'll tear the country apart. We can't have another Iraq.' For Trump, the swirl of options, opinions and advice is nothing new. He has faced the Iran decision much as he has most every other major choice of his presidency, by soliciting advice and trying to arrive at a solution that will please the widest swath of his supporters. The answer this time may not be as simple, nor does Trump hold all the cards in a conflict that is playing out across the world. Israel's decision to launch strikes a week ago — while not a surprise to the president — still came against his public entreaties to hold off. And in Iran, he is confronting an adversary with a long history of hardening its positions under pressure from the United States. As he was arriving Friday at his home in New Jersey, Trump said it would be hard to ask Netanyahu to ease up on strikes on Iran in order to pursue diplomacy, given Israel's success in the conflict so far. And he said the two-week window he set a day earlier was the maximum period of time he would allow for diplomacy to work, reserving the option of ordering a strike before that time is up. The president couldn't say whether the decision now in front of him is the biggest he'd face as president. But as he tries to find the balance between ending Iran's nuclear ambitions and keeping the US from war, he did offer an evaluation of what he wanted his legacy to be on the other side. 'Always a peacemaker,' he said. 'That doesn't mean — sometimes, you need some toughness to make peace. But always a peacemaker.'

New York Times

38 minutes ago

• New York Times

As Iran and Israel Battle, the Rest of the Mideast Fears What's Next

Across a swath of the Middle East, fighter jets and missiles regularly streak across the sky. The newest war in the region, this time between Israel and Iran, has once again put millions of people in the crossfire of a conflict that they want nothing to do with. The war has embroiled two well-armed, longtime enemies who are ethnic and political outliers in the region, but whose fight, many of their neighbors worry, could swiftly spill beyond their borders. 'We are constantly afraid, and the psychological toll has been heavy,' said Rawan Muhaidat, 28, a mother of two in the town of Kafr Asad in northern Jordan. The sight of Iranian missiles overhead, and the booms of air defenses shooting them down before they reach Israel, have terrified her children, who cower between her and her husband as they worry that their home could be struck. 'Every time a rocket passes and explodes, we think, 'This is the one,'' Ms. Muhaidat said. Adding to many people's fears is the possibility that President Trump will grant Israel's request that the United States intervene by dropping 30,000-pound bombs on an Iranian nuclear enrichment facility buried deep underground. Such a move, experts say, could push Iran to retaliate against American military bases or allies across the Middle East, or to activate proxy forces, like the Houthis in Yemen, to snarl trade routes or damage oil infrastructure, harming the global economy. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.