Latest news with #MiddleEast
Yahoo
36 minutes ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Exiled crown prince: Islamic Republic ‘collapsing' in Iran
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran and son of the last Persian Shah, urged Iranians on Tuesday to prepare for the impending fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic as the country struggles to fight off attacks from Israel. 'The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,' Pahlavi wrote on the social platform X. 'Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation.' 'What has begun is irreversible. The future is bright, and together, we will pass through this sharp turn in history,' he added. The military conflict between Iran and Israel stretched into its fifth day Tuesday, with little signs of slowing as Israel hammers its Middle East rival over Tehran's nuclear pursuits. President Trump departed the Group of Seven summit of world leaders in Canada late Monday — a day earlier than expected to return to Washington to monitor the ongoing conflict. He met with top security officials in Situation Room on Tuesday to assess the developments. He has not ruled out the possibility of U.S. military involvement. The Pahlavi dynasty ruled Iran from 1925 to 1979, when it was overthrown in the Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi, penning his social media posts in English and Farsi, directed the message to his 'fellow countrymen' and encouraged an uprising. 'Now is the time to rise; the time to reclaim Iran,' he wrote. 'Let us all come forward … and bring about the end of this regime.' Pahlavi advised that there is a plan to establish a democratic government in Iran within 100 days of the collapse of the Islamic Republic. He also urged 'military, law enforcement, security forces and state employees' to join the effort to topple the government under Khamenei. 'Do not stand against the Iranian people for the sake of a regime whose fall has begun and is inevitable,' Pahlavi wrote. 'Do not sacrifice yourselves for a decaying regime.' 'By standing with the people, you can save your lives. Play a historic role in the transition from the Islamic Republic, and take part in building the future of Iran,' he added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
39 minutes ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Cornered Iran could unleash sinister attacks on US soil as it runs out of options against Israel, insiders say
Desperate Iranian mullahs could lash out at America ordering deadly cyber attacks on our dams and electricity grids – or even terror attacks from 'sleeper cells', security experts are warning. spoke to former top diplomats, cybersecurity and national security experts who said that although the Iranian regime is on the back foot and reeling from Israeli bombardment, it still has the ability to wreak havoc on US soil. A former senior diplomat who had extensive Top Secret security briefings on Iran told that the new 'hot war' between Iran and Israel, and Ayatollah Khameini's increasingly desperate position, has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US. 'I can't imagine, seeing how this war is going, that Iran is going to hold back,' said the top ex-US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 'They're running out of options, and this is one of the areas in which they've unfortunately been quite effective. 'You can't manufacture new missiles or centrifuges overnight. But you can empower whatever proxies are remaining to act with even more deadly results. 'Assassination attempts, terror attacks, they will of course still try to do those things. It's no secret they have made assassination attempts on US soil, in Washington DC. 'Their capabilities for doing so are becoming less both because of their degrading situation, and also because we're on much higher alert here in DC. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his fellow Ayatollah, an honorific title for high-ranking Shia clergy, have become increasingly desperate, which has ratcheted up the risk of the regime taking drastic action in the US 'But If they employ hacking capabilities on mass infrastructure, our energy grid, our nuclear facilities, major dams, these are all things that are vulnerable.' The former top State Department official said Iran had been pouring money for years into political opposition to US Iran hawks and promoting critiques of its enemies such as Israel on university campuses. But a hail-Mary strategy for the regime action could see Iranian government-backed online activity turn to more dangerous hacking. 'It's not just about stoking up anti-American fervor on campus. It's also about finding the weakest parts of the systems that keep us all safe,' the ex-official said. 'You don't need to bomb trains. You could just have the signals mixed up due to a digital hack and have them run into each other.' Rex Booth, who worked as the chief of cyber threat analysis at the government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, gave a stark warning that Iran's hackers have already infiltrated critical US infrastructure. 'They have a demonstrated ability of infiltrating infrastructure and remaining there undetected for extended periods of time,' he told Booth pointed to a 2013 hack of the control center of the Bowman Avenue Dam in Westchester County, New York by hackers working for Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps. The former top State Department official who chose to remain anonymous said Iran had already been pouring money for years into political opposition to the US and promoting critiques of its enemies, such as Israel on university campuses Former Chief of Cyber Threat Analysis at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, Rex Booth, said even though their 2013 plan failed, Iran's hackers have the potential to produce 'catastrophic consequences' (PICTURED: The seven Iranian hackers) Disaster was averted by luck, as the dam's sluice gate was offline for maintenance at the time. But it was a chilling example of exposed infrastructure. 'The idea is that they can open dams, release water when they're not supposed to, and potentially cause, depending on how the dam is situated, catastrophic consequences downstream,' Booth said. 'We learned, based on observations that the private sector makes as well as government has made, that there is substantial intrusion into our national critical infrastructure by a variety of nation-state actors. 'And our visibility into that intrusion, we know is limited. We know it's happening, we see a portion of it, but we suspect that's a pretty small percentage. 'So when we go to engage adversarial nations in conflict, we have to do so with the knowledge that we don't have full visibility into the extent of the infiltration of these nations into our systems that we depend on day in, day out. And with that comes real risk.' Oregon Senator Ron Wyden has railed against outdated and vulnerable security systems for private dams in his state, stating in a congressional hearing last year: 'I don't want to wake up to a news report about a small town in the Pacific Northwest getting wiped out because of a cyberattack against a private dam upriver.' In 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had just four full-time employees tasked with overseeing 2,500 dams across the US and had not updated its cybersecurity requirements for commercial dam operators since 2016. FERC proposed new cybersecurity standards in September but has not yet implemented them. One insider, EJ Kimball, said Israel has been so effective in its assassination of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that terrorists may be confused as to who to take orders from Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement and is a national security consultant, said the FBI has testified in Congress for years that Iranian support networks operate inside the US National security consultant EJ Kimball told there is 'certainly a risk that the Iranians may escalate things regarding the US.' 'The FBI has reported in congressional testimony over the years about Iranian support networks operating inside the US,' added Kimball, who works as Director of Christian Outreach and Engagement for the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement. 'It's certainly a big risk that those networks could be activated to carry out terrorist attacks here. 'We know that Hezbollah has been operating in the US for over 25 years, probably over 30 years at this point. Hezbollah is controlled by Iran.' But Kimball added that Israel had been so effective in its lightning assassinations of Iranian and Hezbollah military leaders that potential terrorists may not know who to take orders from anymore. 'Obviously a desperate regime will lead to desperate measures being taken. But those can only be taken if someone is there to give the orders,' he said. 'If you're one of those sleeper cells in the United States that's been here, you would have to be a die hard to actually move forward with it, because there is essentially no path to victory for the Iranian cause. 'The quicker that this war with Iran ends, the less likelihood that those agents would actually activate.' 'There's a lot of bluster. The question is, what is their actual capability? We have to plan for the worst, but expect the best,' Kimball said.
Al Jazeera
43 minutes ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
The US sponsored Iran's 1953 regime change: Is Trump planning a repeat?
As the military conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, United States President Donald Trump has threatened that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is 'an easy target' for American forces. 'We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now … Our patience is wearing thin,' Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. With the Trump administration considering whether to use US aircraft and weapons to back Israel's campaign against Iran, cracks have begun to appear within his 'Make America Great Again' or MAGA movement. Commentator Tucker Carlson and Trump's one-time adviser Steve Bannon, among other supporters, have argued that the military action against Iran is fundamentally aimed at a regime change, not just at decimating Tehran's nuclear programme. Appearing in Bannon's podcast, War Room, Carlson told him, 'You're not going to convince me that the Iranian people are my enemy. It's Orwell, man. You're not telling me who I have to hate.' In the West, critics of Iran's current rulers have often framed their opposition as shaped by the religious conservatism of the Islamic Republic. But the West's track record of regime change in the country long predates the 1979 revolution led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. So, is Israel calling for regime change in Iran? Is the US supporting that? And what is the history of Western attempts to force regimes it likes on Iran? What's behind Israel's 'Operation Rising Lion'? After Israel launched its attacks on Iran on Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Iranians in an English video, saying that he hoped the military operation would 'clear the path for you to achieve your freedom'. Suggesting that Israel's objective in its attacks was to 'thwart the Islamic regime's nuclear and ballistic missile threat to us', Netanyahu added that the Israeli campaign could also lead to a regime change. The Israeli military offensive dubbed 'Operation Rising Lion' is also a name steeped in symbolism. A lion, with a sun behind it, has been an important motif of Persian empires dating back centuries. The lion holding a sword was a part of the Iranian flag under the Pahlavi dynasty that ruled Iran from the late 19th century until 1979. 'The time has come for the Iranian people to unite around [the] flag and its historic legacy, by standing up for your freedom from the evil and oppressive regime,' Netanyahu said on Friday. On June 17, Israel's Persian-language social media account even posted an image of a lion with a sword, piercing the modern Iranian flag bearing Islamic Republic symbols. The post was seen by many as an attempt to invoke nostalgia for pre-revolutionary Iran and nudge Iranians towards resistance. But Marc Owen Jones, an associate professor of media analytics at Northwestern University in Qatar, told Al Jazeera that it would be naive to expect that 'Iranians might be swayed by Israeli politicians talking about the significance of a lion'. Jones noted that Israel's lion messaging is also aimed at its domestic audience. 'Israel [is] becoming the lion that would then take over the land. And Israel has portrayed itself as the lion in its historical imagery,' he said. Israel is trying to create a sense that 'this is not just a strategic war, but this ties in with Israel's identity and its longue duree account of this biblical homeland for the Jews', added Jones. However, if the Israeli government wants Iranians to rise up against the regime, Jones said, 'reverting back to Persian historical imagery is not actually going to be very effective, especially when you're Iranians'. What has Trump said about Khamenei? While Trump has not formally called for a regime change in Tehran, he has effectively threatened that the US could assassinate Iran's top leader if and when it chooses to. On Wednesday, Trump repeated his call for 'unconditional surrender', standing on the White House lawn. 'Unconditional surrender: That means I've had it. OK? I've had it. I give up. No more. Then we go blow up all the nuclear stuff that's all over the place there,' the US president said. 'For 40 years, they've been saying: Death to America! Death to Israel! Death to anybody else that they didn't like. They were bullies. They were schoolyard bullies, and now they're not bullies any more.' He concluded: 'We're not looking for ceasefire. We're looking for a total complete victory. You know what the victory is? No nuclear weapon.' Has the West carried out regime change in Iran before? For the US and its allies, 'total complete victory' in Iran has in the past involved out-and-out regime change. In 1953, over two decades before the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the CIA and British spy agency MI6 orchestrated the overthrow of Iran's democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. Mossadegh had moved to nationalise Iran's oil industry, previously controlled by the British-owned Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (now BP). The move was wildly popular in Iran but enraged Western countries. At the same time, Cold War paranoia was at its peak in Washington, and US officials feared that Mossadegh's government might drift towards the Soviet Union. Together, the US and the United Kingdom launched a covert operation – known as 'Operation Ajax' – to remove Mossadegh. The plan involved funding protests, planting propaganda in local newspapers, and supporting military officers loyal to the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. On August 19, 1953, Mossadegh was removed from power. The shah, who had briefly fled Iran, returned and consolidated power with US backing. Within Iran and in the wider Global South, the coup is widely seen as a turning point, reinforcing perceptions that the West was more interested in controlling oil and influence than supporting democracy. What happened next? After 1953, the shah ruled Iran as a staunch US ally – and also as an increasingly repressive monarch. The shah launched a top-down agenda called the White Revolution, expanded education and infrastructure, and pushed secular reforms. However, political dissent was brutally suppressed by SAVAK, his secret police. Arbitrary arrests, censorship, and torture became common. Wealth inequality worsened, and his alliance with the West – particularly the US – alienated both the religious establishment and a growing segment of the population. By the late 1970s, public discontent had reached boiling point. Massive demonstrations erupted across the country, calling for the shah's removal. In January 1979, facing overwhelming opposition, he fled Iran. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returned from exile to lead the Islamic Revolution. The monarchy collapsed, and the Islamic Republic of Iran was born. Khomeini passed away in 1989 after a prolonged illness and eventual heart failure. Ali Khamenei succeeded him after serving as the president of Iran from 1981 to 1989. Khamenei became Iran's second—and current—supreme leader, holding the chair since June 4, 1989. In his first televised address since the Israeli attacks, Khamenei on Wednesday referred to Trump's 'unconditional surrender' call, noting it was 'unacceptable' and 'arrogant'. 'This nation will never surrender,' Khamenei said. 'America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage.' To this, Trump later said at the White House lawn, 'I say, good luck.'
CBC
43 minutes ago
- Politics
- CBC
Israel believes it has proof Iran is close to a nuclear weapon. Others doubt it
This time, Israel's fears over Iran's intention to build a nuclear bomb really may be valid. Or not. And for better or worse, it will be U.S. President Donald Trump making the decision about what facts to accept or to reject. For most of his nearly 20 years leading Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stoking international concerns that his country faces the threat of "nuclear annihilation" if Iran is able to build an atomic weapon. As early as 1996, he proclaimed: "Time is running out." Sixteen years later, in 2012, Netanyahu stood before the UN with an almost cartoon-like drawing of a round bomb with a lit fuse, urging the international community to stop Iran's ayatollahs before it was too late. Finally, seven nights ago, Netanyahu gave the order to attack Iran directly, stating that the mission is to take out Iran's institutions, facilities and scientists related to its nuclear program. "If not stopped, Iran could take steps to produce a weapon in a very short time," Netanyahu said in a video statement justifying his decision. Israel's sweeping campaign of airstrikes in and around Tehran has wiped out the top tier of Iran's military command, damaged its nuclear capabilities and killed hundreds. Iranian retaliatory strikes, meanwhile, have killed at least two dozen civilians in Israel. But finishing the job of destroying Iran's nuclear program may be beyond Israel's capabilities. With some key components and facilities fortified up to 80 metres underground, it may require weaponry and heavy bombs possessed only by the U.S. Trump — under intense pressure domestically from many Republicans who want him to intervene, and perhaps an equal number who want him to stay out of the fight — said Thursday he'll make a decision within the next two weeks on what course to take, to give diplomacy with Iran more time. At least one former top Israeli intelligence official believes the evidence of both Iran's capability and intent to produce such a weapon of mass destruction is incontrovertible. "I think the last report of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) says that Iran has more than 400 kilograms of 60 per cent enriched uranium, which, if you enrich it to 90+, is enough for 10 nuclear devices," said Sima Shine, a former officer at Israel's spy agency Mossad who is now with the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. The only outstanding issue was Iran's willingness to build a bomb, she said, given that such a move would surely invite a devastating Israeli response. "Our impression was that in the last year, the interest of Iran to go the extra mile and actually reach a nuclear, military nuclear capability has changed, if we compare to its previous use," Shine told CBC News. She said since the Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel, Israeli attacks have critically weakened Iran's key proxy militias in Gaza and Lebanon — Hamas and Hezbollah. That's left Iran deeply weakened, she said, forcing the ayatollahs to change Iran's calculations about the necessity of building a nuclear weapon to project-strength. Military enrichment? Other Iran watchers in the West share Shine's assessment. "There is no purpose at all for having that level of nuclear enrichment and that stock of enriched uranium other than military," said John Sawers, former chief of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service MI6, speaking to the BBC. Israeli authorities have suggested their own intelligence efforts have also turned up proof of Iran's intentions, beyond what the IAEA has reported. Quoting unnamed sources, the Wall Street Journal said Israeli agents learned of Iran's interest in developing and perfecting chain-reaction explosions, which are required for nuclear weapons. Megan Sutcliffe, an analyst with the private intelligence firm Sibylline, said that beyond the actual manufacture of a nuclear device, it's also possible the Iranians were working on improving missiles and rockets that could carry a bomb. "The IAEA does not monitor this," she said. "And so the intelligence that Israel is likely referring to is something to do with Iran possibly making strides toward testing the viability of some form of delivery system." Doubts persist Still, in the absence of that information being shared publicly, doubts persist about both Iran's intentions and its capabilities. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, told Congress earlier this year that U.S. intelligence agencies did not believe Iran had made a decision to weaponize its nuclear program. The Washington-based Arms Control Association, a think-tank that promotes arms control and diplomacy, issued a statement earlier this week, denouncing any U.S. involvement in Israel's war against Iran. "There was no imminent threat that Iran was weaponizing its nuclear program before Israel's attack began," it wrote. The group argued U.S. intervention could have the opposite effect — strengthening Tehran's resolve and leading it to weaponize its nuclear program, if it is not completely destroyed or is eventually rebuilt. And while the chief of the IAEA ruled last week that Iran was in breach of its non-proliferation obligations for a lack of disclosure, Raphael Grossi also said the global nuclear watchdog had seen no evidence that Iran's enriched uranium was being steered toward military or non-civilian purposes. "We cannot say that we at the IAEA have enough credible elements which would be pointing directly at this," he said. In an interview with CBC News, Iran's ambassador in Geneva reiterated his country's right to have a nuclear program and to develop enriched uranium from it. "There is no evidence of Iran moving toward military nuclear activities," said Ali Bahreini. "Our nuclear activities are peaceful." Enriched uranium can also be used to produce medical isotopes or as fuel for nuclear power plants. WATCH | About That on how the U.S. might be pulled into the Israel-Iran war: How deep will the U.S. be pulled into the Israel-Iran war? | About That 2 hours ago Duration 25:38 U.S. President Donald Trump has consistently denied his country's involvement in the intensifying conflict between Israel and Iran. But Andrew Chang explains the role the U.S. has already played. Then, Will South Korea's new leader save the country? Israel's nuclear program Israel is widely believed to have had its own nuclear weapon capabilities for several decades, although the country's official policy is deliberate ambiguity with regards to the existence of such a program. "Essentially, it is widely acknowledged that Israel does have a nuclear arsenal and that they also have … a nuclear submarine, which gives them a second-strike capability; the ability to respond to a nuclear weapon being fired toward them," said Sutcliffe. Israel has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has not accepted IAEA safeguards on some of its principal nuclear activities, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation notes. The Washington-based group also notes that "the lack of clarity surrounding an Israeli nuclear weapons program is a key obstacle to establishing a weapons of mass destruction free zone in the Middle East." Nonetheless, most countries — including Israel's current and historic adversaries — have generally accepted the country's nuclear policies. Sutcliffe said she believes the different treatment between Iran and Israel on their nuclear programs stems from long-standing, repeated statements from Iran's leaders about their intent to destroy Israel, if given the opportunity. "Iran has characterized itself as being a threat to Israel — both through its direct actions, but also through its support of proxies to threaten Israel," she said. Iran's leadership has expressed strong support for Palestinians being free of Israeli occupation, and it was a strong financial and military supporter of Hamas in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, however, has repeatedly said Iran's support of Hamas has not helped the Palestinian cause, nor been beneficial to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. For both Trump and Netanyahu, the decision over which intelligence and analysis to go with will have immense consequences — for Israel and far beyond. Gershon Baskin, a longtime advocate for peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Israelis and fierce Netanyahu opponent, said he believes that most Israelis hope Trump jumps into the war on their side. "They're living this kind of hubris that Israel can do whatever it wants, wherever it wants, at any time," said Baskin referring to public sentiment over the damage Israel's military has inflicted on Iran's nuclear facilities and the assassinations of its nuclear scientists. But he cautioned domestic politics could shift quickly against Netayahu and his efforts to reign in his Iranian enemies, should his calculations over damaging Iran's nuclear program backfire.
Al Arabiya
44 minutes ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Iran-Israel war enters day seven
In this episode of Global News Today, presented by Tom Burges Watson, we continue our coverage of the Iran-Israel war as it enters its seventh day. Guests: Jeffrey Feltman – Former US assistant secretary of state and former US ambassador Elliott Abrams – Former US Special Envoy for Iran
