Latest news with #Iran-IraqWar
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
'It feels like a missile is following me': Iranians speak out amid relentless bombings
After days of relentless tit-for-tat strikes between Israel and Iran, daily life across Iran has taken a dark turn, marked by fear, disrupted routines, and deep uncertainty. For many civilians, the war feels inescapable. 'This is war,' a 58-year-old father of two in Tehran told CNN, adding, 'no one really understands what that means.' As reports from inside Iran, contact with the outside world has become increasingly difficult. Internet access is patchy, phone lines unreliable. Only a few, mostly wealthy activists, have access to Starlink terminals providing independent connectivity. Most voices interviewed by CNN requested anonymity out of fear of state reprisal. Shops remain open, but cash is hard to come by. In Shiraz, a 55-year-old English teacher described long queues at banks and exhausted workers unable to meet withdrawal requests. In Tehran, some stores are allowing customers to buy on credit due to issues accessing funds from Sepah Bank. 'Gasoline is useless to us because we have nowhere to go outside Tehran,' said the father. A conscript soldier, 27, said that he feels targeted by the very skies above him: 'It feels like a missile is following me. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like ¡Todo a tu favor con Orange! Orange Undo I go to Karaj and they bomb there. I come to Tehran and they bomb here.' Confined by military rules, he can't even check the news. In Shiraz, a hairdresser expressed helplessness: 'You watch the videos, the photos. People are being killed, our country is being looted.' Another resident said, 'Rebuilding all this may take decades, if not longer, and in the end it's we the people who will have to bear the cost.' According to Iranian officials, more than 200 people have been killed so far. Israel's strikes have reportedly targeted key military and nuclear infrastructure, but Iran accuses it of hitting energy and digital systems as well. Not everyone sees the strikes as unjustified. A nurse from Mashad said, 'We are paying the price for a dictatorship and its arrogance.' A student from Shiraz added bluntly, 'I'm genuinely happy… it's worth it, for the sake of future generations.' Meanwhile, tensions have surged with US President Donald Trump teasing the involvement of American aircraft in the conflict. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei dismissed Trump's call for surrender, warning, 'America's involvement… would 100% be at their loss.' Still, defiance is growing. 'I lost a son during the Iran-Iraq War,' a 78-year-old mosque caretaker in Isfahan told CNN. 'I'll be happy to fight America and the Zionists again.' As nationalism grows and flags fly from car windows, Iranians brace for more. 'Now that Trump has come this far, he will see it through to the end,' said an engineering student in Mashad. 'They don't let a wounded bear go free.'
Toronto Star
7 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
The Iran-Israel conflict is about more than just missiles. This is how Canada should respond
For over a week now, rockets have crossed the skies between Tel Aviv and Tehran after Israel launched an attack on Iran last Friday. But though the focus has understandably been on the conflict between the two nations, an overlooked contest is occurring inside Iran, where weary Iranians weigh whether to support a battered regime or consign it to history. That internal reckoning, not the missile count, should anchor Canada's reading of the crisis and its response. Since its inception the Islamic Republic has been on shaky ground, with the country now living in the legacy of an unfinished revolution that promised democracy but settled on theocracy. On the eve of the Israeli strike, Tehran was already staggering under decades of sanctions, the wreckage of COVID-19 mismanagement, and the aftershocks of the 2022 'Woman, Life, Freedom' uprising. Inflation hovers around 50 per cent, poverty and crime are rising, social fault lines are widening, and entire provinces endure rolling blackouts in the summer months. When foreign fire lands, the leadership thus reaches for a worn script: wrapping itself in the flag more tightly, invoking the glory of the Persian Empire, recalling the Iran-Iraq War and promising righteousness and revenge.
Time of India
14 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Arak nuclear facility hit: Satellite images show extent of Israeli strike; see before-and-after pic
Iran's Arak nuclear facility The Israeli military conducted a strike on Iran's Arak heavy water reactor facility on Thursday morning, marking a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict between the two nations. The facility, located 280 kilometers from Tehran, had been inactive under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal. The Arak Nuclear Complex's significance Built in response to Iran's security concerns following the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, the Arak facility was developed domestically after Iran failed to acquire heavy water reactor technology from other nations. The complex consisted of an experimental reactor and heavy water production facilities, with the latter being crucial for producing plutonium that could potentially be used in nuclear weapons. The strike and its impact Israeli Defence Forces targeted the facility "to prevent the reactor from being restored," specifically aiming at the reactor's core seal. Satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies revealed significant damage, including the partial collapse of the reactor dome and damage to surrounding structures. The Israeli military released footage showing multiple explosions at the site. Interactive content by Flourish 2015 nuclear deal context Under the 2015 nuclear agreement, Iran had previously disabled the reactor by filling its core with concrete as part of broader nuclear program restrictions in exchange for sanctions relief. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Despite these measures, Israel has maintained concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iranian atomic energy chief Mohammed Eslami condemned the attack as "barbaric and unlawful" and called for IAEA intervention. The IAEA confirmed no radiological release resulted from the strike. The attack came in response to Iranian missile strikes on southern Israel, which had damaged medical facilities and residential areas near Tel Aviv.
Indian Express
21 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
Who is Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran?
Israel Katz, the Israeli Defence Minister, on Thursday said that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 'can no longer be allowed to exist.' This is the clearest declaration yet of what Israel — and the US — have both hinted at in recent days: that taking out Khamenei, now 85 and reportedly ailing, is one of their ultimate war goals. In an interview to ABC News on Monday, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that striking Khamenei would not escalate the conflict, but 'end it.' A day later, US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he knew exactly where Khamenei was hiding, warning 'we are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now… (but) our patience is growing thin.' Khamenei, on his part, has refused to bow down to external pressure. 'Intelligent people who know Iran, the nation and the history of Iran, will never speak to this nation in the language of threats,' he said, 'because the Iranian nation cannot be surrendered.' Here's a look at the man, his politics, and the nation that he has led for the past three-and-a-half decades. First, what power does the Supreme Leader have in Iran? In Iran's theocratic system, the Supreme Leader is the most powerful figure in the country ranking above the president, parliament, and judiciary. Khamenei commands the armed forces, appoints heads of the judiciary, state media, and key security agencies, and holds the power to dismiss elected officials, countermand legislation, and declare war or peace. His control also extends to foreign and military policy through his oversight of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Force (IRGC) and the Quds Force, which orchestrates Iran's regional operations. His position is established on the doctrine of velayat-e faqih, or 'guardianship of the jurist', which gives a cleric ultimate sovereignty over an Islamic state. The ideology was developed by his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and enshrined in the constitution of 1979. Ali Khamenei was born in 1939, in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad. He was the second of eight children in a modest family headed by his father, a religious cleric. Khamenei followed his father's footsteps, pursuing clerical studies in Qom from 1958 to 1964, before joining Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's movement against the Shah of Iran in 1962. After being imprisoned multiple times by the Shah's regime, Khamenei emerged as a key figure in the 1979 revolution. He served as president from 1981 to 1989, steering Iran through the Iran-Iraq War, before succeeding Khomeini as Supreme Leader. Khamenei's early years reveal a man of eclectic tastes. He engaged with Iranian intellectuals, absorbing both secular and Islamist ideas. A lover of literature, he has lauded Victor Hugo's Les Misérables as 'the best novel that has been written in history,' telling state television officials in 2004, 'Go read Les Misérables once. This… is a miracle in the world of novel writing.' What does Khaminei believe in? Khamenei views liberal democracy and capitalism as flawed, and sees the West as materialistic and Islamophobic. Yet, he is not wholly anti-Western. 'Western culture is a combination of beautiful and ugly things,' he told a group of young Iranians in 1999. 'A sensible nation… will take the good and add it to their own culture… and reject the bad.' His fundamental critique of western civilisation is that it is overly materialistic. 'The West looks at only one dimension — the material,' he said in a meeting on development. In contrast, Islamic civilisation includes justice, prayer, independence, and 'approaching the exalted God.' His ideal, thus, is not simply a strong Iran, but a spiritually superior one. Khamenei's influences include Islamist thinkers like the Egyptian Islamic theorist Sayyid Qutb, who wrote 'Islam without government and a Muslim nation without Islam are meaningless' and, of course, Ayatollah Khomeini, the fountainhead of the Islamic Revolution. And like Khomeini, who referred to the US as 'Great Satan' and Israel as 'Little Satan', Khamenei is known for his unabated hostility towards these two countries. After a Florida pastor threatened to burn the Quran in 2010, Khamenei insinuated there was a larger plot at play. 'The operational command of these acts are in the hands of the system of hegemony and Zionist planning centres,' he said at the time. What has Khamenei done? Iranian analyst Mohsen Milani wrote in the Foreign Affairs magazine: 'Khamenei has made it his mission to preserve the revolutionary identity of the state, particularly that it remains devoted to Islamic principles and opposed to the West.' Under Khamenei, Iran has become a regional power through asymmetric means. The Islamic Republic has funded, trained, and armed a network of proxies from Lebanon to Yemen, enabling Tehran to confront its enemies in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States, without risking direct war. Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and various militias in Iraq and Syria have all been recipients of Iranian support. Khamenei has also reshaped Iran's economy through what he calls the 'resistance' doctrine, a strategy aimed at making the country less vulnerable to international sanctions. This includes reducing reliance on oil, expanding trade with China and Russia, and cutting state subsidies. The efficacy of this doctrine is another matter altogether — the Iranian economy still leans heavily on oil, and subsidy cuts have sparked protests across the country. Khamenei sees nuclear science as a marker of national pride and progress. For Khamenei, Iran's right to enrich uranium is about not just energy but sovereignty. He has however claimed that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons and he permitted negotiations over the 2015 nuclear deal before criticising the US for pulling out. At home, Khamenei has orchestrated a political system designed to preserve his rule. He has stacked every avenue of government with loyalists making it difficult for moderates or reformists to gain influence. He has proven ruthless in suppressing dissent, as was evident in 2023 during the Mahsa Amini protests, or in 2009 during what came to be known as the Green Movement. What comes next? Khamenei is an 85-year-old cancer survivor. But despite years of speculation, he has not publicly named a successor. Officially, the Assembly of Experts, a body of 88 clerics vetted by the regime, will choose the next Supreme Leader once the office is vacant. But the process is secretive and tightly controlled. Akbar Ganji wrote in Foreign Affairs that most contenders have already been sidelined, and Khamenei's 56-year-old son, Mojtaba, is a frontrunner. According to Ganji, 'the elder Khamenei's allies have been touting Mojtaba as the leader the country needs,' praising his juristic credentials. Once dismissive of dynastic succession, mocking it in 1990 as akin to passing a 'a man passing a copper wash basin to his heir,' Khamenei now appears to favour Mojtaba's rise. But factional rivalries and public unrest could disrupt this plan — especially if Khamenei goes on the back of Israeli or American intervention. While the Islamic regime in Iran has been remarkably resilient, it is yet to be seen whether it can survive its latest, arguably greatest ever, challenge.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Iran Threatens To Close Strait of Hormuz: What Would Happen?
Iran has warned that it could shut the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil transit chokepoints, in retaliation for U.S. involvement in its conflict with Israel. "If the United States officially and operationally enters the war in support of the Zionists (Israel), it is the legitimate right of Iran in view of pressuring the U.S. and Western countries to disrupt their oil trade's ease of transit," Ali Yazdikhah, a senior Iranian lawmaker, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency on Thursday. "Iran has numerous options to respond to its enemies," Behnam Saeedi, a member of the parliament's National Security Committee presidium was quoted as saying. "Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the potential options." The officials spoke amid heightened tensions as President Donald Trump is reported to be inching closer to ordering military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment by email. The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. At its narrowest point, the strait is about 21 miles wide, with two shipping lanes two miles wide in each direction. The strait handles around 26 percent of global oil trade, making it one of the most strategically important maritime passages in the world. The International Energy Agency notes that any disruption to flows through the strait would have significant consequences for world oil markets. Iran has long asserted that it can shut down the Strait of Hormuz. While the strait can't be "closed" in the traditional sense - like shutting a road - Iran could attempt to make the waterway too dangerous for commercial passage, effectively disrupting global shipping. During the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Iran targeted oil tankers and oil loading facilities with mines and missiles, including Chinese-made Silkworm cruise missiles, and used speedboats to harass tankers. These actions did not fully block the strait but caused sharp increases in shipping insurance premiums and delayed maritime traffic. According to a 2012 report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service (CRS), Iran could try to obstruct the strait in phases. "Iran might begin with a less violent option and progress over time to more violent ones, or implement a combination of highly violent options from the outset," it said. Possible measures cited in the report included: Declaring the strait closed to shipping without without stating explicitly what the consequences might be for ships that attempt to transit those watersDeclaring more explicitly that ships transiting the strait or other parts of the Persian Gulf are subject to being intercepted and detained, or attackedFiring warning shots at ships transiting the strait or other parts of the GulfDeploying sea mines in the strait and other parts of the GulfUsing submarines, surface ships, shore-based cruise missiles, and aircraft to attack foreign naval ships operating in waters outside the Strait Iran moving to shut the Strait of Hormuz would likely invite a strong international military response. "An outright closure of the Strait of Hormuz... at present, this appears to be a low probability event. Were this to occur, it is not likely to be prolonged," said the CRS. "It would likely trigger a military response from the United States and others, which could reach beyond simply re-establishing strait transit," it added. "Iran would also alienate countries that currently oppose broader oil sanctions. Iran could become more likely to actually pursue this if few or no countries were willing to import its oil." President Donald Trump told reporters on Wednesday: "I'm not looking to fight. But if it's a choice between fighting and [Iran] having a nuclear weapon, you have to do what you have to do, and maybe we won't have to fight." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, said in a public address: "The Americans should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage. The U.S. entering in this matter is 100 percent to its own detriment. The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter." The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain have scheduled nuclear talks in Geneva on Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, according to Reuters. Related Articles US Support For Donald Trump Attacking Iran Revealed in PollsIranian Jewish Leader Denounces Israel's 'Savage' Attacks on IranIran Issues New Warning to US- 'All Necessary Options on The Table'Former Spy Chief: 'Good Case' for US To Strike Iranian Nuclear Site 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
