A pair of Iranian sisters has been accused of acting as spies on behalf of the regime to steal secrets from American big tech.
A federal grand jury has indicted Samaneh Ghandali, 41, her sister Soroor Ghandali, 32, and Mohammadjavad Khosravi, 40, on charges of stealing highly sensitive trade secrets from Google and other major technology firms and funneling the data to Iran.
The trio, all residents of San Jose, were arrested in mid-February and hauled into federal court the same day, according to prosecutors.
Authorities said the alleged scheme unfolded quietly inside some of the world's most powerful tech companies, where the defendants held trusted roles giving them access to cutting-edge systems.
Instead of safeguarding that information, investigators said they exploited it. FBI officials described the case as a brazen insider operation.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Sanjay Virmani accused the group of a 'calculated betrayal of trust' by 'stealing trade secrets from the very tech companies that employed them.'
'According to the allegations, the method in which confidential data was transferred by the defendants involved deliberate steps to evade detection and conceal their identities,' he added.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit trade secret theft, theft and attempted theft of trade secrets and obstruction of justice. All three defendants have pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison for each trade secret count and as much as 20 years for obstruction.
Google did not respond to our request for comment.
At the center of the case is a trove of highly valuable intellectual property – including sensitive data linked to processor security, cryptography and advanced mobile chip technology.
Prosecutors said hundreds of confidential files were taken, representing the kind of cutting-edge innovation that underpins everything from smartphones to national security systems.
Samaneh and Soroor Ghandali both worked at Google before moving to another company identified only as 'Company 3.'
Khosravi worked separately at a firm referred to as 'Company 2,' which develops system-on-chip platforms similar to the Snapdragon processors used in modern smartphones.
Together, authorities allege, they quietly siphoned off data using a range of covert methods.
Files were transferred to private communication channels, moved onto personal devices and relocated to unauthorized storage – including destinations overseas and in Iran.
To cover their tracks, prosecutors said, the defendants went to extraordinary lengths.
They allegedly submitted false statements denying wrongdoing, deleted digital evidence and even photographed computer screens manually to bypass company security systems designed to detect downloads.
The allegations alone have raised serious national security concerns.
The indictment identifies the defendants as Iranian nationals. Soroor Ghandali was in the US on a student visa. Samaneh Ghandali later became a US citizen, while her husband Khosravi obtained legal permanent residency.
Prosecutors say Khosravi previously served in the Iranian army, according to CNBC.
The family's background has also drawn scrutiny. The Ghandali sisters are reportedly the daughters of Shahabeddin Ghandali, a former Iranian official who was arrested in 2016 over an alleged $2.5 billion embezzlement scandal tied to a state-linked investment fund and a major bank.
The case is unfolding against a backdrop of surging tensions between Washington and Tehran.
The arrests came just weeks before the US and Israel launched a massive military offensive against Iran on February 28 – a campaign that has since escalated into a wider regional conflict and triggered a global energy shock.
Now, officials warn that the alleged theft reflects a broader and more troubling pattern.
Lara Burns, a former FBI special agent and terrorism expert at George Washington University, said Iran has long relied on covert networks to bypass sanctions and gain access to restricted technology.
'They're constantly using their network to try to avoid sanctions,' Burns told the Daily Mail.
'They want US products. They want US technology. They want information. I think that these recent cases that we've seen are to be expected from this network.'
The case has intensified fears that foreign adversaries are increasingly turning to insiders, employees with legitimate access, to penetrate America's most sensitive industries.
Unlike traditional cyberattacks, insider threats are notoriously difficult to detect, often unfolding over months or years before being uncovered.
And the stakes could hardly be higher. The technology at issue – advanced chips, cryptography and secure processing systems – sits at the core of modern computing and defense infrastructure.
The alleged scheme also comes as cyber warfare ramps up alongside the conflict in the Middle East.
Iran-linked hacking groups have stepped up attacks on US companies and critical infrastructure, targeting everything from healthcare systems to industrial networks.
Security experts say these digital assaults are part of a broader strategy – one that combines military force with cyber operations and economic disruption.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 06:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1770 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
#1
Strange, given the way Islamic's go to great lengths to AVOID educating females and forcing them to dress in sacks.
[FoxNews] A federal grand jury in Ohio charged Shandong Believe Chemical Company and Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology, with China's Ministry of Public Security aiding the FBI probe.
Six Chinese citizens and two China-based pharmaceutical companies have been indicted for allegedly selling and delivering chemical precursors used to make fentanyl intended to be smuggled into the United States, as well as forging an alliance with a Mexican drug cartel, the Justice Department said.
A federal grand jury in Dayton, Ohio returned charges against the Shandong Believe Chemical Company and Shandong Ranhang Biotechnology, as well as individuals Hanson Zhao, Gao Yanpeng, Xia Yi, Zhang Jian, Wang Zhoalan and Zhang Chunhai.
The indictments stemmed from Operation Box Cutter, the FBI-led multi-agency crackdown targeting the global supply chain of fentanyl precursors. The FBI received assistance from China's Ministry of Public Security, which provided intelligence, officials said.
"Operation Boxcutter represents a historic success with unprecedented indictments including material support for terrorism – a major step in this FBI’s coast-to-coast takedown of the fentanyl crisis," FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital. "Moreover, it represents new groundbreaking cooperation between our counterparts in China after last year’s historic visit with MPS counterparts working to cut off precursors and crush the plague of fentanyl."
The drug companies allegedly used Zhao, Yanpeng, Yi, Jian, Zhoalan and Chunhai to solicit, negotiate, and secure payments for illegal cutting agents from U.S. customers.
From July 2025 through January 2026, the companies allegedly used the six defendants to openly market, sell and deliver various chemical precursors intended for domestic and foreign drug traffickers to make fentanyl destined for the U.S.
The U.S. customers were directed to pay for the agents using cryptocurrency transferred to crypto wallets, with the funds ultimately being deposited into foreign financial institutions, federal prosecutors said.
The defendants allegedly conspired to manufacture and distribute 400 grams or more of fentanyl mixture. In addition, three defendants allegedly also sold chemical precursors and medetomidine to a member of the Cártel del Golfo, also known as the Gulf Cartel, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department.
Throughout the operation, China’s Ministry of Public Security provided the FBI with intelligence that helped "advance our understanding" and investigation of Shandong Believe Chemical Company and its criminal network, Joe Perez, the FBI operations director, said in a statement.
"Thanks to that collaboration, these indictments will serve as an important message to all those who engage in similar conduct that the FBI will bring them to justice," he said.
Drug traffickers use chemical precursors to manufacture fentanyl and other substances known as "cut" to increase the quantity of doses available for sale, the Justice Department said.
Fentanyl is often cut with medetomidine, an animal tranquilizer up to 200 times more powerful than morphine, authorities said. Medetomidine can increase the yield of a single kilogram of fentanyl at least twenty-fold, producing millions of dosages for street level sales, officials said.
China began tightening fentanyl precursor controls following Patel's visit to the country last year in which he held discussions with his Chinese counterparts and Chinese government officials.
"This was a historic trip for the FBI and America’s national security – the first time in a decade that an FBI Director has been to China and received an audience with his counterpart to discuss the fentanyl crisis," Patel said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital at the time.
He noted that the crisis doesn't start at the southern border, but rather with the flow of chemical precursors and the networks that move them.
[IsraelTimes] Yehia Amin to serve 90 days in prison for punching tourist; vandal who defaced home of Brooklyn Museum’s Jewish director has felony dropped
An assailant was convicted on Monday of an antisemitic hate crime for attacking an Israeli man in New York City in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... invasion of Israel.
The case came as a series of antisemitic and Israel-related crimes dating to the upheaval in the city in 2023 and 2024 were resolved in New York City courts, and marked a relatively rare conviction for an antisemitic hate crime.
Yehia Amin
…31, described as a Queens man, he found, stalked, and jumped — with clear malice aforethought —a random Israeli tourist and his friends while loudly playing what he called “Hamas music” on 10/18/2023, while Israel was still searching for the last of the 10/7 invaders. It’s interesting that I can’t find anything more than that about him…
pleaded guilty to assault as a hate crime in the third degree in Manhattan’s New York Supreme Criminal Court. He cannot appeal.
Amin is expected to be sentenced in May to 90 days’ imprisonment, followed by five years of probation.
He was released after Monday’s hearing on his own recognizance, but had to surrender his passport to ensure he does not flee abroad.
The judge in the case warned Amin that, if he is arrested before beginning to serve out his prison term in May, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison, a Jewish community courtroom observer told The Times of Israel.
The judge at Monday’s hearing communicated with Amin in Arabic through an interpreter, and Amin stated that he was a US citizen.
How nice for him. Should he be?
On October 18, 2023, shortly after the Hamas invasion of Israel, Amin stalked and punched a 23-year-old Jewish Israeli near Times Square, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in an indictment after the incident.
The man was with four friends, all of whom were wearing kippahs, when they walked by Amin, who recognized them as Jewish and pursued them.
Amin, who was 28 at the time of the attack, taunted the group, telling them, "Hamas should kill more of you," "May Allah kill all the Jews," and "All Jews should die," according to the District Attorney’s Office. While Amin pursued the Israelis, he blasted music from a speaker that he later described as "Hamas music."
The group tried to report Amin to a security guard, then headed to a train station to leave Times Square, but Amin continued to follow them, saying, "All Jews are crybabies," and "I want to kill you for Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... ." After around 10 minutes of harassment, Amin ran up behind the victim and punched him in the back of the head, causing substantial pain and minor injuries.
Amin expeditiously departed at a goodly pace and the Israeli tourist and his friends followed him. A police officer joined the pursuit, caught Amin and arrested him. While under arrest, Amin continued to shout antisemitic statements, including, "God kill all the Jewish people," the District Attorney’s Office said.
Yeshiva World News adds that sentencing is expected in May: 90 days jail plus 5 years probation.
The attack was one of 69 antisemitic incidents reported to police in October 2023, more than double the total of the preceding two months combined.
In a separate case, a woman who vandalized the home of the Brooklyn Museum’s Jewish director in June 2024, who had been charged with a hate crime, had her felony dismissed on Friday.
Taylor Pelton pleaded guilty in December to criminal mischief in the third degree, a felony, and was ordered to complete a month of community service. After completing the community service, the felony was dismissed on Friday and Pelton pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to conditional discharge, under the condition that she stay out of legal trouble for a year, a spokesperson for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office said.
Pelton was one of three suspects
…Ms Pelton, 30 and old enough to know better, being from Queens, Samuel Seligson, 34, and Gabriel Schubiner, 38, were from Brooklyn…
charged with "making a terroristic threat as a hate crime," a felony, for vandalizing the home of Anne Pasternak, the Jewish director of the museum, with inverted red triangles, the symbols Hamas uses in videos to denote Israeli targets that have become popular among anti-Zionist activists.
The vandals also splattered red paint and wrote the words "blood on your hands" on Pasternak’s home, along with hanging a banner calling her a "white-supremacist Zionist."
The act came amid a campaign against the museum led by the hardline anti-Zionist activist group Within Our Lifetime,
…one of the many tentacles of the pro-Hamas section of Antifa...
which had accused the museum of complicity in "Zionist genocide."
The protests against the museum sparked widespread outrage at the time, drawing condemnation from politicians, including US Senator Chuck Schumer ...Senator-for-life from New York, renowned for his love of standing in front of cameras and microphones. Schumer has been a professional politician since 1975, when disco was in flower, which is NaN years. Senate minority leader as of 2017... and then-mayor Eric Adams ...Hizonner da Mare of Noo Yawk. As a Manchurian candidate, Hizonner was all in favor of law and order and that kind of stuff. Once in office, a bunch of his friends found cushy jobs with the city, the windows kept getting broken, and Soros-funded DA Alvin Bragg remained right where he was. Most people comfort themselves with the thought that he's not Bill di Blasio but that's pretty small comfort with kids who actually go to school getting bumped off while standing in front of them. But he's a Dem, so the rubes will vote for him next election too, so he's what they deserve... The attacks came amid an increase in antisemitic hate crimes in New York City in 2023 and 2024. The rate of reported antisemitic incidents started to decrease last year, with slightly fewer monthly attacks in 2025 compared to 2024, but Jews are still targeted in the city more than all other groups combined.
In 2025, Jews were targeted in 57 percent of hate crimes, despite making up about 10% of the city’s population. Overall, reports of antisemitic crimes have trended upward in recent years, while attacks on other groups have declined.
There were 323 antisemitic incidents reported to the NYPD in 2023 and 345 in 2024, but convictions for hate crimes are uncommon.
Under New York law, hate crime enhancements that allow for harsher penalties are added to an underlying offense if prosecutors can prove the perpetrator was motivated by the victim’s identity. The crimes are viewed as more severe because they target and impact an entire group, not just the individual. Convictions are rare because proving intent is a high legal bar.
First-time offenders, like Pelton, are typically granted more lenient sentences. Amin’s case stood out because of his explicit anti-Jewish animus during the attack and because it was a physical assault.
A New Mexico jury on Tuesday ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company violated state law by misleading users about the safety of its platforms and allegedly enabling child sexual exploitation.
Jurors found the Facebook and Instagram parent company violated New Mexico’s consumer protection law following a lawsuit brought by Attorney General Raul Torrez, who accused Meta of failing to protect children from predators.
"The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety," said New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. "Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough."
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1771 views]
Top|| File under: Human Trafficking
#1
A victory for every child who will receive no money and not benefit in any way. The money will go into the general fund to be distributed corruptly.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
03/25/2026 5:58 Comments ||
Top||
#2
^#1 Super Hose nailed it.
Wonder how much of that $$$$$ finds it way into
"Special Services" awards?
[IsraelTimes] Up to 50% of citations in some articles about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict come from messaging put out by Hamas, Hezbollah and other terror groups, World Jewish Congress says.
Not all that different than the English language original:
Wikipedia is dead!
An editor called Iskandar323 (Wikipedia username), who was the leader of the "Gang of 40", a group of editors, has just been banned.
Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee site-banned him after an investigation showed the group coordinated over ONE MILLION EDITS… pic.twitter.com/5nU3SWLgcA
… over ONE MILLION EDITS shaping pro-Hamas narratives on articles about Hamas, Iran, Zionism, and the Middle East conflict.
Too little, too late!
It doesn't matter how much they'll try to "fix" it, it will stay unfixable as the rot has infested every once healthy tissue!
Euthanize it!
Google should immediately remove the "first result on the first page" bias they started 2 decades ago.
AI companies should immediately downgrade Wikipedia's ranking in training models
And we should all simply avoid entering that site from now on!
[TurkiyeToday] Amid the escalating Gulf war, a Turkish official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Türkiye Today that Ankara has ruled out the possibility of participating in a naval operation to secure the opening of the Strait of Hormuz in a conflict that was started for "Israel's sake."
"It makes no sense to go to war with our neighbor and put our troops or ships at risk for Israel’s sake," the official said.
U.S. President Donald Trump's latest push for NATO involvement in securing the Strait of Hormuz has exposed not just a transatlantic rift but also a deeper structural reality: key allies, Türkiye included, are unwilling to be drawn into a widening Middle Eastern war.
Trump is upset with the NATO allies. Many are not up to fighting a war that was provoked and initiated for Israel’s national security interests.
Türkiye is not merely staying out of a naval operation; it is redefining its role in a conflict where geography, energy flows, and economic risks intersect in a complex manner.
Trump’s frustration with the inaction of NATO partners has been explicit. His remarks, “disappointed in NATO” and “we don’t need any help escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz," underline a broader expectation that allies should align behind U.S. operational priorities.
Yet, the response from European capitals has been unequivocal.
Türkiye’s position stands out because it is not based on political signaling alone. It is grounded in structural realities. The Strait of Hormuz is one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.
Around one-fifth of global oil flows pass through it. For many economies, especially in Asia, disruption would be immediate and severe. For Türkiye, the picture is different.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 08:47 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1766 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
[IntelliNews] Iran reportedly put a freeze on its natural gas exports to Turkey following last week’s Israeli strike on its biggest gas field, South Pars in the Persian Gulf.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg on March 24 reported the pipeline suspension, saying the likely duration of the stoppage remained unclear.
Turkey’s energy ministry declined to comment on the matter to the news service.
Last year, Turkey sourced around 14% of its natural gas from Iran, according to Turkish Natural Gas Distributors Association data.
Gas is piped to Turkey from northwest Iran in the Tabriz–Ankara pipeline, a 2,577-kilometre (1,601-mile) pipeline commissioned in 2001.
The main suppliers of gas to oil and gas-poor Turkey are Russia and Azerbaijan.
There is now market discussion as to whether piped gas flows from these two countries as well as a range of other deliveries, such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from various sources, will be enough for Ankara to continue to meet gas demand despite the Iranian suspension.
On March 18, bne IntelliNews wrote how a consequence of the Israeli attack could be the disruption of Iranian gas supplies to Turkey and a need for the Turks to raise reliance on LNG imports.
“An unintended consequence of the strikes on Iran’s gas fields? Turkey may be forced to import more LNG,” Stephen Stapczynski, a Bloomberg reporter covering energy and commodities, said in a social media post cited by this publication’s article, pointing to the knock-on effects of the escalating conflict on regional energy balances.
Another issue for Turkey to consider is that last week, Russia’s Gazprom accused Ukraine of trying to use drone attacks to disable two pipelines via which around 130mn cubic metres (mcm)/day of Russian gas flows to Turkey and several countries in southeastern and central Europe.
South Pars is divided between Iran and Qatar. In the US/Israeli war on Iran, the Israelis attacked infrastructure on the Iranian side of the field on March 18. US President Donald Trump later implied that the Israelis had not consulted him on the military strike, though multiple international news reports, based on information from Israeli sources, said that that was not the case. Trump said the Israelis would not continue with such attacks. He spoke after Iran mounted revenge attacks on vital facilities linked to LNG production in Qatar.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 08:33 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1757 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[FreeBeacon] A coalition of advocacy groups petitioned House Foreign Affairs Committee leadership to immediately advance three pieces of bipartisan legislation that would help Iran's embattled population to access the internet, according to a copy of a Monday letter shared with the Washington Free Beacon.
The three measures would collectively help the Iranian population use secure networks to circumvent the regime's internet blackouts and will likely receive significant bipartisan support once sent to a full vote in the House of Representatives. The advocacy groups recommend in their letter that the committee pass the bills as one larger measure "as a comprehensive package to advance internet freedom, human rights, and transparency for the Iranian people."
The 12 groups, led by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies' sister organization FDD Action, sent the letter to committee chairman Brian Mast (R., Fla.) and ranking member Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.) amid ongoing nationwide internet blackouts meant to keep Iranian protesters off the street. The Islamic Republic plunged its people into darkness when the United States and Israel launched their military campaign against the regime, repeating a similar tactic it employed earlier this year. A state-imposed internet outage provided Tehran the cover it needed to slaughter as many as 30,000 civilians during historic nationwide demonstrations in January.
[NYP] Former CIA Director John Brennan was panned by the White House and social media users Tuesday for wild comments suggesting Iran is more trustworthy than President Trump.
Brennan — one of the 51 ex-intelligence officials who claimed in an infamous letter that The Post’s bombshell scoop on Hunter Biden’s laptop emails was part of a "Russian information operation" — cast doubt on Trump’s claim that negotiations were underway with Tehran to end the war, during an appearance on MS NOW Monday.
The Iranian regime has denied it is talking to the Trump administration, prompting MS NOW host Symone Sanders — who noted she is "wary of taking the word of Iran ... an authoritarian regime that’s known to lie" — to ask Brennan about what could be happening.
"Well, I tend to believe Iran more than I do Donald Trump," Brennan responded.
He says he "reveres the State of Israel" and is "proud to support the State of Israel."
He also says he regrets using the word apartheid to describe the current state of Israel and clarifies that he was only channeling Tom Friedman’s... pic.twitter.com/QhJKEfvsXp
…channeling Tom Friedman’s concerns about where Israel was headed under Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership.
Letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, he claims the idea of Zionism while objecting to the humanly imperfect reality — based on the deliberately lying reportage of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, et al. Watching the brief interview here, it’s clear he pines for the deeply socialist version of 1966 — pre-Six Day War: within the Green Line, all communist kibbutzes and Israeli folk dancing. He is completely unforgiving of Bibi Netanyahu’s Israel as a strong regional hegemon, the capitalist Innovation Nation that’s a major supplier of cutting edge weaponry, agricultural equipment, biomedical supplies and treatments, and everything computer programming and the internet.
As a hint to understand Gov. Newsom’s overall attitude to the region, it’s helpful to review his Open Letter to California’s Muslim, Palestinian American, and Arab American Communities, dated 3/21/2024, six months after the events of 10/7 and its aftermath were revealed. Read it carefully: every gold-washed, brass-plated, pot metal word displays his tarnished essence.
[11Alive] 11Alive's Sefenech Henok was at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Tuesday morning, where the TSA crunch appeared to ease up a bit.
While it was still certainly crowded Tuesday in particular there appeared to be more volume in the Pre-Check line; the Main checkpoint line seemed to be flowing more in line with normal operations.
That coincided with President Donald Trump's order to deploy ICE and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents to airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson, to assist with security operations. It's unclear if the TSA agent call-out rate also may have fell by a bit on Tuesday. Usually those rates have been getting reported the next day.
======================
also at X — Done right, this will make a great campaign commercial for Nov.
TUESDAY: Travelers line up to fly out of Atlanta’s airport @11AliveNews
#5
According to unreliable sources, it was necessary to shorten the lines to make room for the stacks of bodies resulting from ICE brutalizing and murdering passengers.
[IsraelTimes] Office tower in Manhattan to be sold as part of $318M settlement, with families of those killed in 2001 Sbarro bombing in Jerusalem among those to be compensated
For nearly two decades, the families of victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism have watched a 36-story Manhattan skyscraper generate millions in rental income for the Islamic Theocratic Republic while their court judgments against Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... went unsatisfied.
On Monday, amid the Israeli-American war against Iran, that wait finally produced a result: a $318 million settlement that will direct funds from the sale of the building to hundreds of victims, including Jewish and Israeli families who lost loved ones to Iran-backed terror attacks stretching from Jerusalem to New York.
The case centered on concealed Iranian government interests in 650 Fifth Avenue, a Manhattan office tower. After the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Theocratic Republic took over the Alavi Foundation, a charitable body originally established by the previous regime under the shah, and created a partnership with Bank Melli Iran, an Iranian government-owned bank sanctioned by the United States.
The bank routed tens of millions in rental income to Tehran through shell companies while hiding its ownership stake, in violation of US sanctions.
Among those being compensated under the settlement are families and estates of victims of the 2001 bombing of a Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem, which killed 15 and maimed more than 100, as well as victims of other Iran-backed attacks in Israel and elsewhere. The Sbarro massacre, carried out by Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... with Iranian support, was one of the deadliest suicide kabooms of the Second Intifada.
The settlement also covers people harmed by multiple 1990s and 2000s suicide kabooms targeting Israeli civilians, and the family of Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was assassinated in 1990.
Over decades, hundreds of terrorism victims obtained default judgments against Iran in federal court. Iran never satisfied those judgments, forcing victims to return to court to pursue Iranian assets inside the United States. Altogether, holders of more than $5 billion in terrorism-related judgments against Iran were involved in the litigation, including estates of victims killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks.
US Attorney Jay Clayton called the resolution the product of a long and concerted effort.
"For nearly two decades, we pursued hidden Iranian government assets tied to a Manhattan skyscraper to ensure those funds would ultimately compensate victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism rather than bully boyz and their enablers," Clayton said in a statement.
Under the settlement, the Alavi Foundation will be dissolved and its assets — including the skyscraper — transferred to a newly incorporated charity called the Amir Kabir Foundation. The new entity will be monitored by the US officials and its by-laws require it to remain independent from any government.
Commentary by Russian military journalist Boris Rozhin is in italics.
[ColonelCassad] The United States has evacuated its last positions from territory controlled by the Iraqi federal government.
Abu Mahdi Al-Jaafari Military Spokesman of the Islamic Resistance In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
"O believers! If you support Allah, He will support you and strengthen your steps. We confirm that the US and NATO forces have completed their withdrawal from Victoria Air Base, located near Baghdad Airport, using cargo planes and ground vehicles, to Jordan. We will bomb them with drones, not stones, because they are the Great Satan. The eyes of the Islamic Resistance will be ever vigilant and ready to open fire, waiting for the appearance of any occupier.
We note that the Americans and NATO blew up two secret sites inside Victoria Air Base before their withdrawal, and after their units were withdrawn, they violated the ceasefire that the government granted them in an agreement with the factions and resumed bombing units of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Jurf al-Nasr.
We also inform our people that Victoria Air Base was "handed over to the counter-terrorism service on the condition that no Iraqi troops enter it, and we confirm that the American occupation of Iraq will not be resumed.
As usual, breaking their promises, the Americans have resumed attacks on the Popular Mobilization Forces, and therefore we will continue to pursue them with fire on all their bases in Western Asia.
We reiterate our position: we will not allow the current or future government, God willing, to allow the return of the Americans and NATO to Iraq. The government must free itself from financial dependence on the United States and clear Iraqi airspace of all hostile Zionist-American spy planes.
Last but not least, we address the Parliament and inform it that the sons of the Islamic resistance in Iraq have undermined the prestige of the Americans, expelled them from Iraq, and fulfilled their mission. Therefore, the National Parliament must act quickly to pass the Popular Mobilization Law, implement the decision to expel foreign troops, and annul the agreements with the American occupiers."
Last night, Iranian proxies from Iraq began attacking US bases in Syria. Strikes against US bases in Iraqi Kurdistan, where the US has not yet withdrawn, are also continuing. Last night, there was a major airstrike against the US consulate in Erbil. If Iran can achieve a complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, it will be a significant strategic achievement.
Posted by: badanov ||
03/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1775 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran Proxies
#1
If you remove Iran from the equation, why is there any further need to be in Iraq?
[IsraelTimes] Mladenov confirms phased nature of offer given to terror group, urges UN Security Council to rally around it; warns Israel that further military control of Gaza won’t bring security
The Board of Peace’s top Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... envoy on Tuesday revealed the principles of the disarmament proposal submitted to Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... earlier this month, urging the international community to pressure the Paleostinian terror group to accept the offer in order to prevent another cycle of violence in the Gaza Strip.
"It has been presented to the parties, and the engagement on it is very serious," Board of Peace High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov said in remarks at the United Nations ...where theory meets practice and practice loses... Security Council’s monthly session on the Israeli-Paleostinian conflict.
Two senior Arab officials familiar with the proposal submitted by Gaza ceasefire mediating countries — the United States, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... , Egypt and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor... — told The Times of Israel that they expect Hamas to respond with a counter-offer in the coming days.
While the officials offered some details on the proposal, which were published in The Times of Israel, Mladenov’s briefing to the Security Council was the first time aspects of the disarmament offer were disclosed on-the-record.
FIVE PRINCIPLES OF DISARMAMENT
According to Mladenov, who briefed the council repeatedly during his previous tenures as UN envoy for Iraq and the Middle East grinding of the peace processor, the proposal to Hamas has five principles.
"First is reciprocity. Decommissioning proceeds in parallel with staged withdrawal (by the IDF). This is fundamental to the credibility of the entire process," he said.
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly endorsed US President Donald Trump ...His ancestors didn't own any slaves... ’s 20-point plan for ending the Gaza war last year, he and other members of his government have expressed a desire to maintain a permanent IDF presence in at least the eastern half of the Strip still controlled by Israel.
Mladenov said that the second principle of the disarmament proposal submitted to Hamas is sequencing. Confirming The Times of Israel’s reporting, he said that "the most dangerous weapons — rockets, heavy munitions, bombs, assault rifles owned by arm groups [will be] addressed first [and] Tunnels must be neutralized."
"Personal weapons are addressed later through a registration and collection process," he said, ostensibly referring to what the Arab diplomats said would be the buy-back program in which funds and jobs are offered to those who hand over their weapons to the Paleostinian police force being formed.
Tens of thousands of Paleostinian civilians have already applied to serve in this police force, which will operate under the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), the technocratic government that will transitionally replace Hamas in running the Strip until the Paleostinian Authority has completed the reforms necessary to take over.
Police applicants are currently being vetted, Mladenov said, touting Egypt’s agreement to serve as the "lead training partner" for the force, which will be launched in the coming weeks.
As for the third principle of the disarmament plan, Mladenov characterized it as "verification."
"Compliance (with the program) will need to be monitored and verified," he said, asserting that the reconstruction of Gaza is strictly contingent on the decommissioning of weapons.
"Fourthly, the framework addresses the people, not just the weapons," the Board of Peace envoy continued. "It includes pathways for individuals currently affiliated with gangs to re-enter civilian life with dignity, through structured amnesty arrangements and reintegration programs."
While previous Gaza ceasefire proposals offered immunity to Hamas operatives who give up their weapons, Israel has reportedly ruled out such an exchange for those it says took part in the October 7, 2023, onslaught or other terror activities against Israel.
The fifth principle of the disarmament proposal relates to the timeline, Mladenov said.
"My office has the authority to grant timeline extensions when parties are making good faith efforts," he explained. "This is a managed process with built-in flexibility because the reality on the ground does not always conform to the timelines on paper."
During their last meeting with Hamas and other Paleostinian factions in Cairo earlier this month, the Gaza mediators stressed that implementing the disarmament proposal "is the only way to ensure that reconstruction in Gaza and Israeli military withdrawal happens," Mladenov said.
MILITARY CONTROL WON’T BRING SECURITY, MLADENOV TELLS ISRAEL
While recognizing that international attention is currently focused on other conflicts, the Board of Peace envoy urged Security Council members to publicly reiterate the importance of Hamas disarmament to ensuring the "rights of the Paleostinian people to self-determination" and "to use all means at their disposal to urge Hamas and all Paleostinian factions to accept this framework without delay."
Addressing Israel, Mladenov insisted that Trump’s 20-point plan is "the only pathway that provides Israel with durable security."
"Israel has conducted multiple military operations in Gaza over the past two decades. The weapons have always returned. The tunnels have always been rebuilt. The cycle has been repeated over and over again," Mladenov maintained. "Only verified decommissioning combined, with a new professional police force exercising full control over the use of force and a civilian administration with a stake in stability and focused on reforms eliminates that threat permanently."
"I say this directly to those in Israel and elsewhere, who argue that military control is the only option. The evidence of the last 20 years says the opposite," he added.
AID AND HOUSING DESPERATELY NEEDED
Turning to current conditions in Gaza, Mladenov said that while aid has increased since a ceasefire was reached in October 2025, the situation there remains dire.
"Essential services are operating at a fraction of pre-war capacity. The healthcare system is in collapse. There is no functioning economy," he said.
Mladenov called for the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt to remain open after Israel shut it down for almost three weeks after launching the war with Iran.
He revealed that starting Wednesday, the number of people allowed to enter the Strip would gradually ramp up. Israel has been capping the number of people allowed into Gaza at around 50 each day, while some 150 — mainly medical evacuees and their family members — are allowed to leave daily.
"The current flow [of aid] is not adequate for the scale of need," Mladenov said, adding that his office is working with Israel to expand humanitarian assistance.
Housing is also sorely lacking, with hundreds of thousands of Gazooks still living in tents, the Board of Peace envoy lamented, urging the acceleration of temporary housing solutions.
He then knocked repeated violations of the ceasefire, without placing blame on either side. "I call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to honor the commitments that they have made."
"If this process fails, if the current status quo is allowed to become permanent, the consequences will be devastating. A divided Gaza, with Hamas maintaining military and administrative control over two million people in roughly 50% of Gaza’s territory, means those people continue to live in rubble, dependent on humanitarian aid, with no prospect for reconstruction," Mladenov warned.
"It means a generation of children growing up in conditions that breed despair and radicalization, and ultimately, it means the end of any credible pathway to Paleostinian self-determination and statehood."
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited by Shamil Kerashev
[REGNUM] Where has Benjamin Netanyahu disappeared to? Did he ever disappear at all? These questions have been plaguing Middle Eastern media, and especially the blogosphere, for weeks now. He never disappeared, but the Bibi-hating side of the internet made themselves entirely overexcited thinking that he had.
The speculation was fueled by a popular conspiracy theory that the Israeli Prime Minister had not been seen in person for a long time.
And videos featuring him—again, allegedly—are full of all sorts of oddities, from extra fingers on his hands to missing teeth in his mouth, or at least the noticeable use of chroma key.
However, upon closer inspection, the obvious became clear: someone had processed fragments cut from the Israeli prime minister's press conferences using a neural network, thereby launching a series of discrediting fakes.
Netanyahu himself quickly launched an anti-crisis campaign. For example, he visited a coffee shop and invited anyone interested to count his fingers.
On the other hand, the graphic denials seem to have only fueled the fervor of detractors, who believe a lookalike was sent to take the fall for Bibi (Netanyahu's nickname), and the food outlet was built in some secret bunker. It would seem impossible to imagine anything more absurd. But what if someone is simply mistaking wishful thinking for reality?
According to the latest polls by Channel 14, Benjamin Netanyahu and his team would receive 58% of support in the elections held in the coming days.
Good to know.
However, it is specified that a completely solid result would have been ensured rather by the absence of attractive competitors (22% for former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, only 4% each for Avigdor Lieberman and Yair Lapid, and only 1% for Benny Gantz), while the current head of government’s personal approval rating is not so smooth.
Right now, it's around 40%, which is certainly far from absolute unpopularity—but still a sign of weariness for a significant portion of society. Moreover, among the critics, there are many older people who remember a very different Netanyahu.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he burst onto the Israeli political scene as a leading figure in the "new generation," which prioritized attracting investment in high technology, expanding market relations, and encouraging free enterprise.
Compared to the heavyweights of previous formations—especially, of course, the socialist Shimon Peres —Netanyahu, with his MIT degree and Harvard bachelor's degree in political science, looked like a yuppie, a "Mr. Economy," personifying personal success alongside progressive technocracy.
Actually, MIT gave him a BS in architecture and an MS in business management, while he was all-but-dissertation for a PhD in PoliSci from Harvard. “Mr. Economy”, to be sure, but nerdy Masters of the Universe type — his 1976 master’s thesis was titled "Computerization in the Newspaper Industry."
Add to this a sophisticated, highly dynamic public communications style—more in the spirit of an American executive or TV star than a traditional Israeli functionary—and it becomes clear why he won the first direct election for prime minister in 1996.
He also proved to be quite successful as finance minister from 2003 to 2005, explaining to the nation in layman's terms why private sector development needed to be achieved at the expense of government spending.
This is, of course, a topic for a separate discussion, but it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was Netanyahu's initiatives that largely shaped Israel's long-term image as a country of promising high-tech startups.
Indeed.
At the same time, Benjamin Netanyahu of the 90s, 2000s, and even 2010s always had something to bribe supporters of the ideological hard line with.
Here we have the open declaration of the ideas of revisionist Zionism (essentially the maximum expansion of borders), and memories of his older brother, Jonathan Netanyahu, who died heroically while saving hostages in Uganda, and the injury received by Bibi himself during Operation Isotope (May 1972), when he, as a fighter in an elite special forces unit, stormed a plane hijacked by terrorists.
Thus, in the eyes of a significant portion of the electorate, he became simultaneously "one of our guys," shedding blood for his compatriots, a persuasive reformer willing to ruthlessly dismantle old structures for the sake of economic growth, and a man for whom the systemic fight against terrorism is inseparable from his personal family history. Although the format of this fight itself, until relatively recently, was also quite balanced.
Among the things that immediately come to mind are Operation Pillar of Defense, when the IDF did not send any ground forces into the Gaza Strip at all, and Operation Protective Edge, when Netanyahu, despite calls from the hawks, insisted on only a limited ground intervention.
It might sound funny today, but he was fiercely criticized from the right for lack of decisiveness. He countered: the key was phased planning, stability, and conflict management in a way that prevented military action from becoming a budget black hole.
What a contrast with Operation Cast Lead, which was carried out under the two Ehuds (Olmert and Barak), cost the IDF hundreds of wounded and was unofficially known as the "Gaza Massacre".
This makes the current image of the Israeli Prime Minister even more characteristic, associating, if not with endless war, then certainly with protracted military campaigns and demands to achieve some kind of “absolute victory.”
But what does it even mean, and why didn't Netanyahu consider it necessary before? Have the events of October 7, 2023, changed him so much?
Yes, along with most Israelis.
Or is it actually about the Iranian nuclear program, which Netanyahu, admittedly, had previously liked to threaten the world with?
And, not or.
Trying to find explanations solely on the "external track," many turn a blind eye to developments related to Israel's domestic politics of recent years. First and foremost, the judicial reform, which was presented eight months before the Hamas attack and received the ardent support of the prime minister.
This initiative was presented by government supporters as a way to "correct an imbalance." They argued that the Supreme Court had too often blocked decisions by the Knesset (the unicameral parliament), which expresses the will of the people and therefore deserves the right to bypass judicial restrictions by majority vote.
In addition, the Knesset was to have the final say in the appointment of several new judges, also under the pretext that elected representatives reflect the aspirations of voters better than a closed “legal corporation.”
But Bibi's opponents interpreted what happened in their own way.
The prime minister allegedly needed the amendments to appoint "convenient" judges and ease pressure over the investigation of long-standing criminal cases, which could have threatened Netanyahu with serious consequences for allegedly accepting expensive gifts, colluding with the owners of major media outlets, and abusing his power.
One thing is clear: judicial reform, even if de facto frozen today, is contributing to the strongest polarization of society.
According to Gallup data, by the end of 2025, 55% of respondents considered her a major irritant. And Netanyahu's opponents skillfully exploit such sentiments to remind Israelis of other—in their view, authoritarian—pages in his political biography.
This is mainly about the fierce infighting within the Likud party, which, following conflicts with Netanyahu, was left by the aforementioned Bennett and Lieberman and the current Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.
Although some still cannot forgive Bibi and the alleged reprisal against Moshe Kahlon. The once-popular former finance minister lost his reputation by implementing controversial economic measures due to coalition commitments to Likud. He once declared, "Benjamin Netanyahu is not at all interested in the social problems of his citizens."
Not to mention the opposition, which he has never spared, regularly provoking attempts at revenge. It's enough to recall the request recently made to Israeli President Isaac Herzog by one of Netanyahu's main opponents, former Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
"The president cannot grant Netanyahu a pardon without an admission of guilt, an expression of remorse, and an immediate withdrawal from political life," Lapid emphasized in November 2025, when Bibi himself was actively seeking to have the legal proceedings dropped.
But then the war with Iran began, and the same Yair Lapid proposes to put aside differences and unite in the face of the threat.
Almost all of Bibi's other high-status detractors are doing the same, right up to the former Knesset Speaker and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who once fell out with Netanyahu and now seems willing to work with him again.
“Hating Bibi more than loving the country, sitting on the sidelines and shouting instead of pushing for change, is weakness,” Gantz expressed his confidence.
True, the sincerity of these conciliatory speeches raises certain doubts. Anyone who now openly speaks out against the prime minister or suggests not forgetting the scandalous court cases risks being branded an insufficiently patriotic figure—or even a vile defeatist who stabs the warring Israeli army in the back.
Against this backdrop, Netanyahu is eagerly exploiting the image of the sole authorized defender of sovereignty—no longer “Mr. Economy,” but “Mr. Security,” on whom the survival of the state directly depends.
And his public rhetoric is becoming increasingly messianic. He sometimes cites Jewish religious texts, sometimes loudly quotes the prophet Isaiah about the "people of light and the people of darkness," and finally, discusses Israel's historical destiny in the fight against the "axis of evil."
Such slogans are ideal for mobilizing conservatives, the far right like Itamar Ben-Gvir, the active core of Zionists, and so-called “active patriots” in general.
But what about everyone else? Does Netanyahu care about the perspective of an audience that once voted for him as a charismatic liberal reformer, a guide to the "global world"—and only partly as a fighter (and a rational and pragmatic one at that)?
Some say Netanyahu, with US support, is deliberately maintaining chaos in the Middle East.
Some say many idiotic things, because some are idiots. At best.
After all, thanks to him, demands for his resignation and criminal prosecution are easily equated with undermining unity to the brink of the abyss.
Others consider this interpretation to be a significant oversimplification – and are still forced to admit that the Israeli prime minister seems to have become too confined within the framework of traditional democratic institutions.
Perhaps the best commentary on this topic could have been given by Netanyahu himself 20 or even just 10 years ago, when his specialty was sharp attacks on ineffective, ossified managers and corrupt officials.
But that Bibi has long been in the history books, while the current one has yet to enter them. And receive his due from posterity.
I think the lefties hate Bibi because he triggers their Daddy issues. He's just the kind of guy that would make them do their homework, and finish mowing the law before they can borrow the car.
[IsraelTimes] Veteran of Iran-Iraq War who helped bolster IRGC influence under Ahmadinejad’s government will head Supreme National Security Council; Tehran says Mojtaba Khamenei approved pick raised his cardboard hand, did he?
Iran named on Tuesday a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander to succeed Ali Larijani as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council after the veteran insider of the Islamic system was killed in an Israeli strike.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, whose appointment was confirmed by state TV, is a former deputy commander-in-chief of the powerful paramilitary IRGC who has also held senior posts in the interior and justice ministries.
Larijani was killed last week in an Israeli strike, ending the life of one of the most heavyweight non-holy manal figures in Iranian politics. He had been seen as a possible point man in any eventual talks with the United States.
Zolghadr’s career has been embedded in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, whose stated aim is to protect the Islamic Revolution from internal and external threats.
After serving in the 1980s war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, Zolghadr was the head of the Guards joint staff for eight years, and then served as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Guards for another eight years.
In 2005, he was named deputy interior minister for security and police in the government of then-president Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad
... former president of Iran..., a move that was seen at the time as bolstering the Guards’ influence in politics.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr has been appointed as Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani. pic.twitter.com/hM6VKzs6cb
Since 2023, he had been the secretary of the Expediency Council, a powerful body which plays both an advisory and mediating role between Iran’s various power structures and the supreme leader.
Zolghadr’s new post should give him a major role in the Iranian war effort against the United States and Israeli strikes after the killing of over dozen key Iranian security figures in the war.
However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the current leadership structures in Tehran remain murky after the killing of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei ...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...> , with his successor and son Mojtaba yet to appear in public.
Zolghadr was formally appointed by President Masoud Pezeshkian but the president’s deputy communications director Mehdi Tabatabaei wrote on X that the nomination had been approved by Mojtaba Khamenei.
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that Iran has given up its nuclear ambitions as he said both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are leading peace negotiations.
He also revealed that his Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was not so keen on there being a diplomatic resolution as the war enters its fourth week.
'Pete didn't want it to be settled,' Trump said.
On Monday, Trump announced a five-day halt to US strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure while pursuing back-channel talks with Tehran through intermediaries, signaling he may be looking for a way out.
But despite the dialogue with Tehran, the US is considering deploying around 3,000 troops to support a possible ground invasion, joining thousands of Marines already dispatched to the Middle East.
Trump gave an update on Iran as he swore in ex-Senator Markwayne Mullin to take over the Department of Homeland Security from the ousted Kristi Noem.
In the Oval Office on Tuesday afternoon, he was asked what made him start pursuing a ceasefire when he previously spoke of wanting to continue bombing Iran.
'They're talking to us, and they're talking sense,' the President replied.
He explained that the priority of the conflict was to ensure Iran didn't build a nuclear weapon.
'I don't want to say in advance, but they've agreed they will never have a nuclear weapon,' Trump said. They lie
When the President was asked if he planned to send envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to conduct direct negotiations with Iran, Trump answered that the US was already doing just that.
'We're in negotiations right now. They're doing it along with Marco, JD. We have a number of people doing it. And the other side, I can tell you, they'd like to make a deal,' Trump said.
Both Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are considered top candidates for the 2028 GOP nomination.
Trump has been cagey about who the US is speaking to in Iran, as droves of leaders of the Islamic Regime have been killed in the joint Israeli and US strikes.
'We killed all their leadership and then they met to choose new leaders and we killed all of them. And now we have a new group and we can easily do that but let's see how they turn out,' Trump said.
The President continued to refuse to name names, but he said Iranian leaders the US is dealmaking with gave the country a 'present.'
'They did something yesterday that was amazing. Actually, they gave us a present and the present arrived today and it was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money,' Trump said. 'And I'm not going to tell you what that present is, but it was a very significant prize and they gave it to us.'
Trump said that gesture signaled one thing to him.
'We're dealing with the right people,' he stated.
When a reporter guessed that it was nuclear related, Trump pushed back.
'It was oil and gas related and it was a very nice thing they did,' the President said.
Another reporter asked if the 'present' was related to the Strait of Hormuz, the major shipping lane where Iran has been mounting attacks.
'Yeah, it was related to the flow and to the Strait, yeah,' Trump answered.
Trump had previously bashed NATO members, some of the US's most important allies, for not volunteering to help patrol the Strait amid the Iranian attacks.
The President also had Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who was attending the swearing-in ceremony, briefly give an update on 'military operation' in Iran.
'People don't like me using the word war,' Trump joked. 'So I won't, but the Democrats call it a war.'
After Hegseth's update, that's when the President revealed that the Pentagon chief didn't want the war to end.
'You know the only two people who were quite disappointed, I don't want to say this but I have to - Pete and General "Raizin" Caine,' Trump said, referencing the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1851 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
So, which is it? Iran is folding, or IRGC seizes control? Another 'embrace the power of AND moment? I'll wait. I am leery of this coming from the Daily Mail. I don't trust any 'news' out of Britain, haven't for a while. I am more of the Hegseth viewpoint.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
03/25/2026 3:26 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Some time ago, I've came to a conclusion that 80% of that Trump says can be ignored - but which 80%?
#9
At this pace, someone could in theory be talking with someone else in Iran who's so far down the command level, that they're just working their way down on the elimination list to arrive at him.
#18
There is going to be a lot of "Iran said this!", "Iran said that!" in the coming days as the leadership gets attrited and the various factions - the regular army, the IRGC, and the Basiji all wrestle for control. See Mosaic Defense by Richard Fernandez in yesterday's Burg. At some point, the temptation to sell out the other factions and cut a deal will be strong.
[FoxNews] Who actually runs Iran right now? The key power players as Trump claims talks to 'top' official. Analysts say the IRGC has more control over Iran than ever, even as the state itself is described as weaker than ever before
"Nobody knows who to talk to," President Donald Trump said Tuesday at the White House, describing what he portrayed as both chaos and opportunity inside Iran’s leadership. "But we're actually talking to the right people, and they want to make a deal so badly."
His remarks come as the U.S. claims it is engaged in talks with a "top" Iranian figure, even as Tehran publicly denies negotiations are taking place.
The question now is not just whether talks are happening, but whether anyone in Tehran has the authority to deliver. With U.S.-Israel strikes on senior Iranian leadership and growing internal fractures, Iran appears to be operating less like a centralized theocracy and more like a wartime system run by overlapping power centers, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at its core.
Here’s who matters now.
THE IRGC: THE REAL POWER BEHIND THE STATE
Across intelligence assessments and recent reporting, one conclusion is consistent: the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has emerged as the dominant force in Iran’s political system.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Washington, D.C., think tank, said the current moment is accelerating a long-standing trend.
"No doubt both the 12-Day war and this current conflict have trimmed the commanding heights of the Islamic Republic's political and military leadership," he said. "But it has also expedited the trend lines inherent in Iranian politics, which is the dominance of the security forces and the ascendance of the IRGC."
"Yes, there is more IRGC control over the state than ever before, but the state is weaker than ever before and more of a national security rump state than ever before," he said.
"It shouldn't particularly preoccupy Washington, who is and isn't offering negotiations," Ben Taleblu added. "The preeminent preoccupation of Washington has to be working toward a military win at a political win, and that does not come by working with the IRGC, but actually beating them on the battlefield and supporting the forces most arrayed against them in Iran, which are the Iranian people."
THE COMMAND ROOM: SUPREME NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL
If the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the power in Iran, the Supreme National Security Council appears to be the mechanism through which that power is exercised.
The Supreme National Security Council is Iran’s top forum for coordinating military and foreign policy, bringing together senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and government officials under the authority of the supreme leader. It was established after the 1979 revolution and has played a central role in managing major crises, from nuclear negotiations to wartime operations.
Iran appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, a former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, as secretary of the council, reinforcing its central role in coordinating military and political decisions, Reuters reported Tuesday.
A Middle Eastern official source with knowledge of the system described the structure.
"Right now, the power is in the hands of the IRGC," the source said. "The Supreme National Security Council makes the decisions, of course, with the backing of the majority of IRGC commanders."
MOJTABA KHAMENEI: THE SUPREME LEADER IN NAME
Formally, Iran’s system centers on Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. But his actual grip on power remains uncertain.
Khamenei inherited the position’s sweeping authority following his father’s death, but "lacks the automatic authority enjoyed by his father," the Middle Eastern official said.
Moreover, he has not appeared publicly since taking power and only has issued written statements, raising questions about both his health and his ability to govern, after reportedly being injured in the initial Feb. 28 U.S.–Israeli strikes that killed his father and other senior Iranian leaders.
Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, head of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, suggested his role may currently be limited: "For the time being, since Mojtaba has been injured, it seems he's a hologram and not holding power. However, if Mojtaba recovers, he will be involved in ruling Iran. He is not just a figurehead. But anyhow, for the time being, the control of Iran is in the hands of the revolutionary guards."
GHALIBAF: THE MAN AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP’S CLAIM
Trump’s statement that he is speaking to a "top person" has focused attention on one name in particular: Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.
The White House is quietly exploring Ghalibaf as a potential interlocutor and even a possible future leader, Axios reported.
A former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander and current parliament speaker, Ghalibaf represents a hybrid figure inside the system, bridging military credentials and political authority.
He was one of the key security figures involved in the crackdown on student protests in July 1999 and has run for president four times since 2005.
Ghalibaf is expected to meet U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner in the capital of Pakistan as early as the end of the week.
Ben Taleblu said: "Those who see the ascendants of someone like Ghalibaf, who is an IRGC veteran, having extended power outside his traditional civilian rule, have missed the decades of how personality, not profession, has been the driving force in Iranian politics for the past few decades. I would also say those who worry about the IRGC background of the Supreme National Security Council are all that in Iran today, may have missed the fact that the past few Supreme National Security Council Secretaries, Shamkhani, Larijani, Ahmadian, all also had IRGC backgrounds."
At the same time, Ghalibaf has publicly denied engaging in talks with the United States, and no direct confirmation of negotiations has been provided by either side.
ARAGHCHI: THE DIPLOMAT CARRYING MESSAGES
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi remains one of the most visible figures internationally.
If talks were to take place, Araghchi likely would be part of the Iranian delegation alongside Ghalibaf, Reuters reported.
But analysts caution that his role is limited. He may act as a channel for communication, but does not set policy independently.
Strategic decisions, particularly on war and negotiations, are still shaped by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the broader security establishment.
THE WIDER POWER CIRCLE: GENERALS, CLERICS AND ENFORCERS
Beyond the headline figures, a broader group of officials who continue to shape Iran’s direction can be identified.
These include Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Ahmad Vahidi, Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani, naval commander Alireza Tangsiri, Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, President Masoud Pezeshkian and senior clerical and political figures such as Saeed Jalili and Ayatollah Alireza Arafi.
Each represents a different pillar of the system: military power, regional proxy operations, control of strategic waterways, internal repression and religious legitimacy.
Together, they form what analysts describe as a fragmented but resilient governing network.
Despite internal divisions, Iran’s leadership remains united on one core objective: survival of the regime.
Kuperwasser described the split: "There are the more pragmatic elites, like Araghchi, Rouhani, and Zarif. There are also the hardliners who have usually held the upper hand … But they are united in one issue — that the regime should survive and stay in power."
Iran’s U.N. mission did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
03/25/2026 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1867 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
