Recent Appearances...

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Hello !
Recent Appearances...

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IAF strikes target Hezbollah positions in the Boday Hills area in southern Lebanon

2025-07-07

[X]

⚡️NOW: IAF strikes target Hezbollah positions in the Boday Hills area in southern Lebanon pic.twitter.com/XcfNvlmmGM
— Geospatial World (@RiyaSpda) July 6, 2025

IDF says it struck Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon
[IsraelTimes] The IDF says it carried out airstrikes against several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon a short while ago.

The strikes targeted military sites, infrastructure used for storing and producing strategic weapons, and a rocket launch site belonging to the terror group, it says.

The military says that Hezbollah’s presence and activity in the area constitute a clear violation of the agreements between Israel and Lebanon.

Link

Iraq

The 12-day war and silent transformations of western Asia, Part I: Iraq and Turkey

2025-07-05

The view from Kurdistan, at length. Part II: PKK and Iran will be published tomorrow.

[Rudaw] The 12-day Israel—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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
war stands as one of the most consequential events of the first quarter of the 21st century, with the potential to reshape both the economic landscape and the political-security dynamics of western Asia. Much like the Six-Day Arab—Israeli War of 1967, which extended beyond mere territorial occupation, the 12-day conflict between Iran and Israel was not solely about missile exchanges and nuclear ambitions.

Beyond the overt military dimensions, the war was also aimed at strategically distancing Tehran from its deepening ties with China and Russia, while simultaneously curbing the expansion of the pan-Shia movement led by Iran. In this sense, the conflict served a role analogous to that of the 1967 war, which effectively halted the rise of the pan-Arab movement spearheaded by Gamal Abdel Nasser and supported by Moscow.

Regardless of whether it is referred to as Operation Rising Lion, True Promise, or Midnight Hammer, it is evident that this war is quietly transforming the regional landscape. Syria appears to be entering a new phase aimed at establishing the foundations of governance, while the regional influence of both ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
and the Gulf states is expanding. In parallel, the issue of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) disarmament has progressed into a new stage, influenced by the broader consequences of the conflict.

The war has turned Iraq and the Kurdistan Region into arenas for two major regional rivalries. On one front, these areas have become a battleground for military competition between Iran and Israel, a dynamic that has pushed Iraq’s internal situation to the edge of crisis where unknown drones have emerged as key players in shaping the security environment. On another front, Iraq is increasingly becoming a site of strategic contention between Ottoman Turkish and Iranian interests.

Additionally, the war - and even the anticipation of it - has compelled Turkey to quietly engage in a discourse aimed at redefining its nation-state identity, particularly through the rhetoric of Ottoman Turkish—Kurdish brotherhood. Simultaneously, within Iran, a growing debate between the ultra-conservative faction and other elements of the political elite reflects yet another dimension of the war’s subtle but enduring influence - an influence that appears likely to persist.

IRAQ BETWEEN THE HAMMER OF WAR AND THE ANVIL OF RIVALRY
Iraq’s current situation appears increasingly precarious as the country approaches elections under the shadow of both ongoing regional conflict and intensifying geopolitical rivalry - developments that may, as in previous instances, prove decisive for its future. In relation to the recent war, Iraq has formally protested the violation of its airspace illusory sovereignty. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
this issue is only one dimension of a broader and more complex set of challenges. On the day the conflict ended, two of Iraq’s radar systems were destroyed, and in the days that followed, unidentified drones have emerged as a growing security concern, appearing in areas ranging from Kirkuk to Sulaimani and
Duhok. The Iraqi government is currently conducting investigations to determine the origins of these incursions.

While some have speculated that the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(ISIS) may be responsible, this theory does not align with the group’s current limited military and organizational capabilities. In reality, only three regional actors possess the capacity to conduct such drone operations across the Kurdistan Region and Kirkuk: Turkey, Iran and its affiliated "resistance" groups, and Israel.

At a time when the world is closely monitoring PKK disarmament negotiations, it is unlikely that Turkey would risk undermining the process, especially since the nature and targets of the drone activity do not suggest Ottoman Turkish involvement.

Both Iran and Israel remain highly sensitive to the strategic positioning of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq more broadly. Contrary to prevailing assumptions, the Kurdistan Region adopted a stance of silent neutrality during the recent conflict. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
this neutrality has failed to satisfy either Iran or Israel, each of which interprets the Region’s posture through its own security and strategic lens. Whether war resumes or not, the Kurdistan Region’s geographic and strategic location renders it critically important to the offensive and defensive calculations of both parties.

At this stage, the identity of the actors behind the drone incidents remains unknown. Nonetheless, the prevailing interpretation is that these incidents constitute strategic signaling - intended more as a message than as direct acts of aggression or destruction. The ambiguity surrounding these developments underscores the fragile and volatile security environment in which Iraq now finds itself - caught between the hammer of regional warfare and the anvil of great-power rivalry.

Another point is that the possibility of Iraq being caught up in war due to the balance of power in the region is always open, because Iraq is important to Iran to protect its last regional bastion, but it’s also important to Israel to keep a gateway to reach Iran open and prevent a problem from forming through Iraq. It seems that in the future, beyond security and military matters, Iraq will increasingly become a field of economic competition and influence between Turkey and Iran, and this will translate into political tension.

Iran has increasingly focused on developing its economic relations with Iraq and the Kurdistan Region. In 2020, Iran’s trade volume with Iraq did not reach $6 billion, while Turkey positioned itself at around $17 billion. Since then, it has continuously tried to turn toward the Iraqi market, and in 2024 it reduced its gap with Turkey. Iran’s economic losses after the fall of Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
are estimated at around $30-50 billion. It is estimated that the 12-day war also cost it between $24 and 35 billion. If international sanctions are to return by October 18, then it must grip the Iraqi market with teeth and claws, as it seems like the last resort for its economy. Mohsen Rezaee, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, once said that we cannot fight wars for countries while their benefits go to other countries.

A DOUBLE-SIX FOR TURKEY AND THE GULF, AND AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SYRIA
The recent conflict has elevated the regional prominence of both Turkey and the Gulf states. For these actors, the simultaneous weakening of Iran and Israel constitutes a strategic gain - akin to a "double six" in backgammon - provided that the hostilities remain confined within the borders of the two principal belligerents. At the same time, both Turkey and the Gulf countries are vying with Oman for the opportunity to host prospective negotiations between Iran and the United States, if such talks prove feasible.

From Turkey’s perspective, the Iran—Israel war represents the weakening of two of its major regional competitors. However,
a clean conscience makes a soft pillow...
had the conflict intensified or triggered sudden political upheaval in Iran, it could have posed a direct threat to Ottoman Turkish security. Despite this risk, the war appears to have drawn Turkey and the United States into closer alignment. The US ambassador in Ankara has publicly stated that Turkey might be readmitted into the F-35 fighter jet program. Additionally, Turkey was reportedly one of the few countries briefed by the United States shortly before Israel launched its attack.

It appears that Turkey has played - and possibly continues to play - a role in the diplomatic efforts to end the conflict. This includes mediating between Iran and the United States, as well as between Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
and the US. In the event that an agreement is reached between Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa faction and Israel, it would signify a potential normalization of relations between Turkey and Israel. Such a reconciliation would not only alleviate long-standing political and security concerns, but also facilitate more stable and reliable access to the Syrian market - particularly significant given the recent partial lifting of US sanctions on Syria under the Trump administration.

The aftermath of the war has also encouraged Sharaa to move closer to Israel, thereby strengthening his position and increasing his chances of consolidating political authority in Syria. This shift could signal broader transformations in the geopolitical dynamics of the region.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

IDF has eliminated a terrorist from the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards near Beirut

2025-07-04

[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

🚨BREAKING 🚨 The IDF has eliminated a terrorist from the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards near Beirut, Lebanon. According to the IDF, the terrorist was "engaged in smuggling weapons and promoting terrorist plots against Israeli citizens and IDF forces." pic.twitter.com/6cGL09UuGq
— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) July 3, 2025

The Times of Israel adds:

The Israel Defense Forces carried out an ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
Thursday in the Lebanese village of Sil, near Beirut, targeting an operative for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the military said. It was unclear if the strike was successful.

According to the IDF, the target was involved in smuggling weapons and advancing terror plots against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, acting on behalf of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign arm, which is responsible for supporting Tehran’s regional proxies, including Hezbollah in Leb
Leb

...home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade....
Saudi news outlet al-Hadath identified the target as Qassem al-Husseini. It was not immediately clear if the target was a Lebanese or Iranian national.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency reported that one person was killed and three people were maimed in the IDF strike. According to the NNA, "an enemy drone targeted a car on the Khalde highway" south of Beirut.

An AFP photographer saw a half-burnt car on the crowded highway as the Lebanese army sealed the area off.

Update from the Times of Israel at 1:55 p.m. EDT — that wasn’t all the IDF did in Lebanon yesterday:

The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on Hezbollah military sites in southern Lebanon a short while ago, which the IDF says targeted weapons depots, military buildings and terror infrastructure.

The operation was conducted with intelligence support from the Military Intelligence Directorate and the IDF’s Northern Command.

According to the IDF, Hezbollah operational activity in the area and the presence of weapons constitute a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

Link

Home Front: WoT

Iranian hackers, back at work since war, threaten to reveal more emails from Trump aides

2025-07-01

[IsraelTimes] Iran-linked hackers have threatened to disclose more emails stolen from US President Donald Trump’s circle, after distributing a prior batch to the media ahead of the 2024 US election.

In online chats with Reuters on Sunday and Monday, the hackers, who go by the pseudonym Robert, say they have roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone and porn star-turned-Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels.

Robert raises the possibility of selling the material but otherwise does not provide details of their plans or the content of the emails.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi describes the intrusion as “an unconscionable cyber-attack.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations does not return a message seeking comment. Tehran has in the past denied committing cyberespionage.

Robert materialized in the final months of the 2024 presidential campaign, when they claimed to have breached the email accounts of several Trump allies, including Wiles.

The hackers then distributed emails to journalists.

The US Justice Department in a September 2024 indictment alleged that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards ran the Robert hacking operation. In conversations with Reuters, the hackers declined to address the allegation.

After Trump’s election, Robert told Reuters that no more leaks were planned. As recently as May, the hackers told Reuters, “I am retired, man.”

But the group resumed communication after this month’s 12-day air war between Israel and Iran, which was capped by US bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites.

In messages this week, Robert said they were organizing a sale of stolen emails and wanted Reuters to “broadcast this matter.”

American Enterprise Institute scholar Frederick Kagan, who has written about Iranian cyberespionage, says Tehran’s spies are likely trying to retaliate in ways that do not draw more US or Israeli action.

“A default explanation is that everyone’s been ordered to use all the asymmetric stuff that they can that’s not likely to trigger a resumption of major Israeli/US military activity,” he says. “Leaking a bunch more emails is not likely to do that.”

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Weakened Hamas faces rebel clans, doubts over Tehran’s backing after Israel-Iran war

2025-06-28

[IsraelTimes] Hamas needs a truce so it can address humanitarian crisis, quash growing dissent and regain control of Strip amid rise of Israeli-backed clan, sources close to the terror group say

Hamas misunderstands: the future of Gaza does not include them. Their choice is to be dead or to be gone — they need to decide which. The description of current conditions is useful, though.

Short of commanders, deprived of much of its tunnel network and unsure of support from its ally Iran, Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
is battling to survive in 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...
in the face of rebellious local clans and relentless Israeli military pressure.

Hamas button men are operating autonomously under orders to hold out as long as possible, but the terror group is struggling to maintain its grip as Israel openly backs tribes opposing it, three sources close to Hamas said.

With a humanitarian crisis in Gaza intensifying international pressure for a ceasefire, Hamas badly needs a pause in the fighting, one of the people said.

Not only would a ceasefire offer respite to weary Gazooks, who are growing increasingly critical of Hamas, but it would also allow the terror group to crush rogue elements, including some clans and looters who have been stealing aid, the person said.

To counter the immediate threat, Hamas has sent some of its top operatives to kill one rebellious leader, Yasser Abu Shabaab, but so far he has remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area held by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources familiar with the situation.

Rooters spoke to 16 sources, including people close to Hamas, Israeli security sources and diplomats who painted a picture of a severely weakened group, retaining some sway and operational capacity in Gaza despite its setbacks, but facing stiff challenges.

Hamas is still capable of landing blows: it killed seven Israeli soldiers in an attack in southern Gaza on Tuesday. But three diplomats in the Middle East said intelligence assessments showed it had lost its centralized command and control and was reduced to limited, surprise attacks.

Israel estimates that it has killed 20,000 button men in Gaza since the war there was sparked on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led Lions of Islam stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages. Another 1,600 Lions of Islam are thought to have been killed inside Israel during the onslaught.

Israeli security sources say Hamas is recruiting tens of thousands of thousands of impoverished, unemployed, displaced young men. One Israeli security source said the average age of Hamas button men was "getting lower by the day."

Hamas does not disclose how many of its operatives have been killed. According to the terror group’s health ministry, Israel has killed more than 56,000 Gazooks in the war, but the figure cannot be verified and does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The war has turned much of Gaza into rubble, and destroyed or rendered unusable hundreds of miles of tunnels that Hamas dug underneath the Strip to hold hostages, smuggle arms and hide from Israeli forces.

"They’re hiding because they are being instantly hit by planes but they appear here and there, organizing queues in front of bakeries, protecting aid trucks, or punishing criminals," said Essam, 57 a construction worker in Gaza City. "They’re not like before the war, but they exist."

Asked for comment for this story, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri
...a senior spokesman for Hamas. Zuhri gained notoriety in 2006 when he dropped his money belt containing somewhere between 640,000 and 900,000 euros, which was confiscated by Paleostinian security and customs officials at a routine border crossing from Egypt to Gaza. The news brought competing Hamas and Fatah forces to the crossing checkpoint for an epic face-making and hollering contest...
said the group was working for an agreement to end the war with Israel, but "surrender is not an option."

Hamas remained committed to negotiations and was "ready to release all prisoners at once," he said, referring to the hostages, but it wanted a permanent ceasefire and for Israel to withdraw from the Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected those conditions and vowed to keep fighting until Hamas is vanquished.

’IT DOESN’T LOOK GOOD’
With a US-brokered truce in the Iran-Israel war holding, attention has switched back to the possibility of a Gaza deal that might end the conflict and release the 50 remaining hostages.

One of the people close to Hamas told Rooters it would welcome a truce, even for a couple of months, to confront the local clans that are gaining influence.

But he said Netanyahu’s terms for ending the war — including Hamas leaders leaving Gaza — would amount to total defeat, and Hamas would never surrender. "We keep the faith, but in reality, it doesn’t look good," the source said.

Founded in 1987, Hamas has ruled Gaza with an iron fist since it ~~violent~~ mostly peacefully ousted forces loyal to Paleostinian Authority President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....>
, head of the secularist Fatah faction, the Islamist Hamas’s main rival.

Israel has inflicted unprecedented damage on Hamas since the October 7 onslaught, killing most of the terror group’s top commanders, including its leader, Yahya Sinwar, in October.

Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, said he believed Hamas was simply trying to survive. That was not just a physical challenge of holding out militarily, he said, but above all a political one.

"They face being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war doesn’t stop, but they also face being erased from any governing formula that ends the war in Gaza [if such a thing can be found]," he wrote in response to Rooters’ questions.

Paleostinian tribes have emerged as part of Israel’s strategy to counter Hamas. Netanyahu has said publicly that Israel has been arming clans that oppose Hamas, but has not said which.

One of the most prominent challenges has come from Abu Shabaab, a Paleostinian Bedouin based in the Rafah area, which is under IDF control. Hamas wants Abu Shabaab captured, dead or alive, accusing him of collaboration with Israel and planning attacks on the terror group, three Hamas sources told Rooters.

Abu Shabaab controls eastern Rafah and his group is believed to have freedom of movement in the wider Rafah area.

Images on Abu Shabaab’s Facebook page show the group’s button men organizing the entry of aid trucks from the Kerem Shalom crossing. Israel has accused Hamas of hijacking aid deliveries, hoarding supplies and selling them at exorbitant prices.

Announcements by Abu Shabaab’s group indicate that it is trying to build an independent administration in the area, though the group denies trying to become a governing authority. The group has called on people from Rafah who are now in other areas of Gaza to return, promising food and shelter.

In response to Rooters’ questions, Abu Shabaab’s group denied getting support from Israel or contacts with the Israeli army, describing itself as a popular force protecting humanitarian aid

from looting by escorting aid trucks. It accused Hamas of violence and muzzling dissent.

A Hamas security official said the Paleostinian security services would "strike with an iron fist to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabaab," saying Hamas would show no mercy or hesitation and accusing Abu Shabaab of being part of "an effort to create chaos and lawlessness."

Not all of Gaza’s clans are at odds with Hamas, however.

On Thursday, a tribal alliance said its men had protected aid trucks from looters in northern Gaza. Sources close to Hamas said the group had approved of the alliance’s involvement.

Israel said Hamas button men had in fact commandeered the trucks, which both the clans and the terror group denied.

IRAN UNCERTAINTY
Paleostinian analyst Akram Attallah said the emergence of Abu Shabaab was a result of the weakness of Hamas, though he expected him to fail ultimately because Paleostinians broadly reject any hint of collaboration with Israel.

Nevertheless, regardless of how small Abu Shabaab’s group is, the fact that Hamas has an enemy from the same culture was dangerous, he said. "It remains a threat until it is dealt with."

The IDF’s 12-day bombing campaign against Iran, which began early on June 13, has added to the uncertainties facing Hamas. Tehran’s backing for Hamas played a big part in the terror group’s ability to shoot missiles deep into Israel.

According to Israel, the sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Theocratic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
retaliated by firing drones and deadly ballistic missile attacks at Israel, causing heavy damage.

While both Iran and Israel have claimed victory, Netanyahu on Sunday indicated the Israeli campaign against Tehran had further strengthened his hand in Gaza, saying it would "help us expedite our victory and the release of all our hostages."

US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
said on Wednesday that great progress was being made on Gaza, adding that the strike on Iran would help get the hostages released.

A Paleostinian official close to Hamas said the group was weighing the risk of diminished Iranian backing, anticipating "the impact will be on the shape of funding and the expertise Iran used to give to the resistance and Hamas."

One target of Israel’s campaign in Iran was a Revolutionary Guards officer who oversaw coordination with Hamas, which is part of the so-called Axis of Resistance®, a regional network of Iran-backed terror proxies that also includes Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
’s Hamas and Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
’s Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebels.

Israel announced the death of the general, Saeed Izadi, on Saturday, saying he had been the driving force behind the Iran-Hamas axis and instrumental in planning the October 7 onslaught.

Hamas extended condolences to Iran on Thursday, calling Izadi a friend who was directly responsible for ties with "the leadership of the Paleostinian resistance."

A source from an Iran-backed group in the region said Izadi helped develop Hamas capabilities, including how to carry out complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations, and drones.

Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran might affect its support for Hamas, Abu Zuhri said Iran was a large and powerful country that would not be defeated.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran eases internet restrictions after ceasefire with Israel

2025-06-26

That’ll help the revolution… or tracking down the revolutionaries, depending how clever the Mullahs are.

[IsraelTimes] Iranian authorities announce the gradual easing of internet restrictions imposed during the 12-day war with Israel, following the implementation of a ceasefire.

“The communication network is gradually returning to its previous state,” says the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ cybersecurity command in a statement carried by state media.

The country’s communications minister, Sattar Hashemi, says in a post on X: “With the normalization of conditions, the state of communication access has returned to its previous conditions.”

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran-Israel war: Latest developments

2025-06-26

[AnNahar] U.S. President Donald Trump
...The tack in the backside of the Democratic Party...
said on Wednesday that the ceasefire that ended 12 days of war between ally Israel and Iran
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 ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
was going "very well", while leaked U.S. intelligence cast doubt on the damage caused by U.S. strikes to Tehran's nuclear program.

Here are the latest developments on the the second day of the ceasefire:

- 'DECADES' OF DAMAGE -
Trump insisted on Wednesday that U.S. strikes resulted in the "total obliteration" of Iran's nuclear capabilities, setting the country's atomic program back by "decades".

"They're not going to be building bombs for a long time," said Trump, who added that the ceasefire since Tuesday was going "very well".

U.S. media earlier cited people familiar with a preliminary U.S. intelligence report as saying that weekend strikes did not fully eliminate Iran's centrifuges or stockpile of enriched uranium.

The U.S. bombardments sealed off entrances to some facilities without destroying underground buildings, setting Iran's nuclear program back by several months, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency report.

- 'SIGNIFICANT HIT' -
The Israeli military said it had delivered a "significant hit" to Iran's nuclear program, but added that it was "still early to assess the results of the operation".

"I believe we have delivered a significant hit to the nuclear program, and I can also say that we have delayed it by several years," military front man Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised presser.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday hailed a "historic victory" in the 12-day conflict and vowed to thwart "any attempt" by Iran to rebuild its nuclear program.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday the Islamic republic will continue to "assert its legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic power.

- STATE FUNERALS -
Iran will hold state funerals on Saturday for senior military commanders and top scientists killed during the war.

Hossein Salami, the Revolutionary Guards chief killed by Israel on the war's first day on June 13, will be laid to rest in central Iran on Thursday.

According to the Iranian health ministry, Israeli strikes during the war killed at least 610 civilians.

Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to official Israeli figures.

- 'TERROR' DESIGNATION -
Israel's defense minister on Wednesday designated Iran's central bank a "terror organization."

"Part of Israel's broader campaign against Iran", the move aims "to target the heart of the Iranian regime's terror financing system, which funds, arms and directs terror throughout the Middle East", said a statement from Minister Israel Katz's office.

- IRAN MPS ON IAEA -
Iranian politicians voted Wednesday in favor of suspending cooperation with the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
' nuclear watchdog.

"The ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, which refused to even marginally condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, put its international credibility up for auction," Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, according to state TV.

The decision still requires the approval of the Guardian Council, a body empowered to vet legislation.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran pivots to internal crackdown on dissent as ceasefire ends war with Israel

2025-06-26

[IsraelTimes] Activists say the now-weakened regime in Tehran has put paramilitary police on guard for internal unrest; ‘We are being extremely cautious right now’

Iranian authorities are pivoting from a ceasefire with Israel to intensifying an internal security crackdown across the country with mass arrests, executions and military deployments, particularly in the restive Kurdish region, officials and activists said.

Within days of Israel’s ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
<del>Arclight</del> airstrike

...KABOOM!...
s beginning on June 13, Iranian security forces started a campaign of widespread arrests accompanied by an intensified street presence based around checkpoints, the officials and activists said.

Some in Israel and exiled opposition groups had hoped the military campaign, which targeted Revolutionary Guards and internal security forces as well as nuclear sites, would spark a mass uprising and the overthrow of the Islamic Theocratic RepublicWhile Rooters has spoken to numerous Iranians angry at the government for policies they believed had led to the Israeli attack, there has been no sign yet of any significant protests against the authorities.

However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
one senior Iranian security official and two other bigwigs briefed on internal security issues said the authorities were focused on the threat of possible internal unrest, particularly in Kurdish areas.

Revolutionary Guard and Basij paramilitary units were put on alert and internal security was now the primary focus, said the security bigshot.

The official said authorities were worried about Israeli agents, ethnic separatists, and the People’s Mujahideen Organization, an exiled opposition group that has previously staged attacks inside Iran.

Activists within the country are lying low.

"We are being extremely cautious right now because there’s a real concern the regime might use this situation as a pretext," said a rights activist in Tehran who was incarcerated
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
during mass protests in 2022.

Iranian rights group HRNA said on Monday it had recorded arrests of 705 people on political or security charges since the start of the war.

Many of those arrested have been accused of spying for Israel, HRNA said. Iranian state media reported three were executed on Tuesday in Urmia, near the Ottoman Turkish border, and the Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said they were all Kurdish.

Iran’s Foreign and Interior Ministries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

CHECKPOINTS AND SEARCHES
One of the officials briefed on security said troops had been deployed to the borders of Pakistain, Iraq and Azerbaijan to stop infiltration by what the official called terrorists. The other official briefed on security acknowledged that hundreds had been arrested.

Iran’s mostly Sunni Moslem Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long been a source of opposition to the Islamic Theocratic Republic, chafing against rule from the Persian-speaking, Shi’ite government in Tehran.

The three main Iranian Kurdish separatist factions based in Iraqi Kurdistan said some of their activists and fighters had been arrested and described widespread military and security movements by Iranian authorities.

Ribaz Khalili from the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) said Revolutionary Guards units had deployed in schools in Iran’s Kurdish provinces within three days of Israel’s strikes beginning and gone house-to-house for suspects and arms.

The Guards had taken protective measures too, evacuating an industrial zone near their barracks and closing major roads for their own use in bringing reinforcements to Kermanshah and Sanandaj, two major cities in the Kurdish region.

A cadre from the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), who gave her nom de guerre of Fatma Ahmed, said the party had counted more than 500 opposition members being detained in Kurdish provinces since the airstrikes began.

Ahmed and an official from the Kurdish Komala party, who spoke on condition of anonymity, both described checkpoints being set up across Kurdish areas with physical searches of people as well as checks of their phones and documents.

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Israeli strikes hollowed out Iran’s leadership, but IRGC will remain dominant force

2025-06-25

[IsraelTimes] By targeting top military figures, Israel delivered a symbolic and strategic blow, though experts warn that regime may now ‘move in a much more hard-line direction’ under the Guards

Hours before the sun rose on June 13, nearly 200 Israeli fighter jets roared into Iranian airspace, while Mosssd
Mosssd

...sees all, knows all, gets 'em all in the end...
operatives on the ground released attack drones from secret bases.

The surprise Israeli strikes hit key Iranian nuclear sites as well as ballistic missile stores, which represented twin threats that Israel saw as existential. But its highly coordinated, precise attack didn’t only focus on Iran’s hardware.

Israel also spent years tracking the key figures at the top of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s command structure and in the opening hours of the campaign, it assassinated many of them — some in their apartments, others reportedly lured to an underground command center.

Those killed on day one included the chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces, and the commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the military’s central headquarters, the IRGC Aerospace Force and the IRGC air defenses.

It was a brutal blow to Iran’s ability to conduct its nuclear, ballistic missile, and proxy efforts, but for the Islamic Theocratic Republic, these leaders fulfilled a role beyond their military responsibilities. They also made up a veteran core of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s leadership, a tight cadre of dedicated believers aroun Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
who forged their ties in the Iran-Iraq War.

Israeli strikes in the subsequent days took out IRGC intelligence chiefs and other top military commanders. "These architects of terrorism are officially done terrorizing the world," the IDF declared six days into the campaign, sharing a video naming 11 military officials it had taken out.

These architects of terrorism are officially done terrorizing the world. pic.twitter.com/H19TzmsCe9
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 19, 2025

Though a US-brokered ceasefire may mean that the dust is settling on the 12-day conflict, Iran now faces critical decisions about not only the future of its nuclear and missile programs, but also about its leadership, with far-reaching implications for the regime and the wider region.

‘PRAETORIAN GUARD’
Before rising to the top of the Islamic Republic, the men Israel assassinated fought in its first war.

Most of the regime’s senior leader, including those killed by Israel, emerged from the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, which broke out after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and shaped Iran’s security doctrine.

“Almost everybody who is anybody in the Islamic Republic’s political or military apparatus today cut their teeth in the Iran-Iraq war,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

During the brutal eight-year conflict, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Iran to seize disputed territory and defeat the nascent Islamic Republic. The war devolved into trench warfare, missile strikes on civilians, and large-scale chemical weapon attacks, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths and immense economic devastation in Iran.

That experience instilled a doctrine of “over-obsessive deterrence” against foreign adversaries, said Ben Taleblu, which over time formed into the five pillars of “the Iranian threat” — ballistic missiles, drones, nuclear development, maritime aggression and transnational terrorism.

Iran overtly ties its military ambitions to the legacy of the Iran–Iraq War. At a military parade in Tehran in September 2023 marking the conflict’s anniversary, Iran unveiled what it claimed was “the longest-range drone in the world,” alongside banners threatening Israel. The display came just weeks before Iran-backed Hamas launched its unprecedented October 7, 2023, assault on Israel from Gaza.

Now, just as it has been, the direction and implementation of post-revolution Iran’s security doctrine will in all likelihood remain the domain of the IRGC.

When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini took control of Iran in 1979, he needed protection. Not just physically, but protection of the Islamist ideology in whose name he led the revolution.

With up to 190,000 active troops and nearly 600,000 volunteer paramilitary forces, the IRGC “has long been the Praetorian Guard to protect the supreme leader and the theocratic system,” said Michael Rubin of the American Enterprise Institute.

In 2019, the US designated the IRGC, which controls Iran’s missile program, nuclear ambitions and network of proxy forces, a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the first time the label was applied to an entire wing of another government.

While the regular Iranian army is tasked with territorial defense, “the IRGC is about defense of the ideology,” targeting enemies both foreign and domestic, according to Rubin, which is “why America and Europe’s well-meaning belief in Iranian reformers was always so naïve.”

Over time, the IRGC’s reach, particularly its influence over the civilian economy, grew vast enough to rival even Khamenei’s direct authority. While experts debate whether the IRGC exercises its extensive power through or against the regime system, its stranglehold on policy is nearly undisputed.

Under Khamenei, the IRGC evolved into a “state within a state,” said Ali Alfoneh of the Arab Gulf States Institute, acquiring massive influence over national security decisions in exchange for shielding the regime. Its economic empire—including privatized state assets and megaprojects—provided both power and insulation from civilian oversight.

For decades, the IRGC, guided by its revolutionary doctrine, steered Iran to a dominant position in the region. It nurtured an obsessive focus on the Islamic Republic’s sworn enemy, Israel. Iran built up dangerous terror proxies on Israel’s borders, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, while enabling more distant regional allies, Shiite militias in Iraq and Houthis in Yemen, to fully secure its reach.

After Hamas’s October 2023 attack, during which Palestinian terrorists massacred some 1,200 people and abducted 251 in the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Israel abandoned its decades-long strategy of containment and began targeting the axis led by the IRGC head-on.

Beginning with Israel’s direct strikes on Iran last year and reaching a climax on June 13, “Israel had a clear shot to reset the nature of its strategic competition with the Islamic Republic, and to really deal a crippling blow to the sources of the Islamic Republic’s deterrent power,” Ben Taleblu said.

Iran’s decentralized military structure enabled the IRGC to survive Israeli decapitation strikes, Alfoneh said, but the results are still unclear amid the chaos.

“The same logic that governs Israel’s assassination of terror leaders applies to the targeting of IRGC leadership,” said Rubin. “Their elimination sows panic and paranoia within the upper ranks.”

While some commanders were valued more for ideological purity and others for military skill, two figures—Iran’s chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri and IRGC Air Force chief Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh—stood out as irreplaceable because of a unique blend of both loyalty and competence, Ben Taleblu added.

Hajizadeh, for instance, was the driving force behind the development of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Additionally, the regime had spent years legitimizing its rule by promising citizens protection from oppressive foreign powers, making every blow by Israel a direct challenge to this social contract.

Nonetheless, the regime’s survival isn’t necessarily in danger, neither by the military loss nor public sentiment. “Zombie regimes can persist long beyond what wishful thinking in the West might suppose,” Rubin noted.

With the regime’s ability to violently suppress dissent, combined with public fear and years of infiltrating opposition groups, keeps the prospect of internal collapse uncertain. Such suppression efforts have often been carried out by the Basij paramilitary force, linked to the IRGC and targeted by Israel throughout the campaign, including in the hours before the ceasefire took effect.

“Ultimately, what matters is the willingness of those in the IRGC to fire on crowds in the street,” Rubin said.

WHAT COMES NEXT?
Perhaps counterintuitively, Israel’s decapitation of the military and the IRGC may well result in the latter further consolidating its power. Though many mid-level replacements are less competent than their predecessors, institutionally, the Guards will remain dominant.

When considering how Iran will reconstitute its power structure after Israel’s devastating campaign, “one probably can’t pick out personalities, but you can certainly say that the X factor is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Ben Taleblu. “Looking ahead, the most important institution in Iran remains the IRGC, even though its leadership has been decimated.”

Effective command and communication within the regime may now be slower, Ben Taleblu added. “If Khamenei is in some bunker somewhere, it’s going to take time for an order to cascade.”

Now that a ceasefire has been declared, that may change.

Israel’s operation has also revived urgent discussions about succession. A clerical committee reportedly accelerated its work last week, focusing on two figures: Khamenei’s son Mojtaba, a hardliner, and Hassan Khomeini, grandson of the regime’s founder. The leadership crisis may push Khamenei to rely more on his son.

“The only real difference between the hardliners and pragmatists is questions of tactics, not ideology,” said Rubin, predicting “a purge among the hardliners as the regime seeks to root out the spies and infiltrators that may or may not exist.”

“Even though the Islamic Revolution rejected hereditary rule, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it make a comeback as Khamenei leans more upon his son, who is perhaps the only person he can any longer trust,” Rubin continued.

Despite its recent setbacks, experts said the regime seems like it will survive the US-Israeli campaign and will likely further sideline pragmatic voices.

“I would say that if the Islamic Republic survives this conflict…they will move in a much more hard-line direction,” said Ben Taleblu, noting that this would constitute “accelerating a trend which was already underway.”

Alfoneh echoed that view, predicting the regime will continue transforming into a military dictatorship, akin to Pakistan, saying he expects a future where “the IRGC distributes the national wealth – or increasingly, poverty – and takes the strategic decisions. The elected civilian leadership will be blamed for all the regime’s shortcomings.”

Though Khamenei remains in hiding, he has survived the fight. With a ceasefire now in place, the Islamic Republic has emerged battered but intact — and seemingly on a road to a more insular, militarized, and uncompromising future.

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Meanwhile: Search for successor to Iran’s Khamenei ramps up amid US, Israeli strikes

2025-06-24

[IsraelTimes] Mojtaba Khamenei, hardline son of supreme leader, said to be a frontrunner, alongside Hassan Khomeini, his predecessor’s grandson, who is considered a relative moderate

The clock is ticking for senior holy mans seeking a successor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
A three-man committee from a top holy manal body, appointed by Khamenei himself two years ago to identify his replacement, has accelerated its planning in recent days since Israel attacked Iran
Iran

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
recently reported that Khamenei had chosen three possible successors, in addition to other potential replacements for top officers.

Khomeini, a close ally of the reformist faction that favors the easing of social and political restrictions, nonetheless commands respect among senior holy mans and the Revolutionary Guards because of his lineage, the sources added.

"I once again humbly express that this small and insignificant servant of the Iranian people stands ready to proudly be present on any front or scene you deem necessary," the 53-year-old said in a public message of support to the supreme leader on Saturday, hours before the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Khomeini has come into the frame as a serious candidate this month amid the conflict with Israel and America because he could represent a more conciliatory choice internationally and domestically than Mojtaba Khamenei, the five people said.

By contrast, Khamenei hews closely to his father’s hardline policies, according to the insiders who cautioned that nothing had been determined, candidates could change and the supreme leader would have the final say.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
with the military conflict continuing, it remains unclear whether any new leader could be chosen easily or installed securely or if he could assume the level of authority enjoyed by Khamenei, they added.

Israeli strikes have also killed several of Iran’s top Revolutionary Guards commanders, potentially complicating a handover of power as the elite military force has long played a central role in enforcing the supreme leader’s rule.

Khamenei’s office and the Assembly of Experts, the holy manal body from which the succession committee was drawn, were not available to comment.

Planning for an eventual handover was already in the works because of Khamenei’s age and the longstanding health concerns of a leader who has dominated all aspects of Iranian politics for decades, the sources said.

The urgency of the task was underlined in September when Israel killed Hezbollah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
...The late, lamented satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...>
, a close ally of Khamenei’s, and the planning accelerated significantly this month following the Israeli attacks on nuclear sites, which were followed by the American attacks this past weekend.

US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
reportedly vetoed an Israeli plan to assassinate Khamenei on the first day of the war. But last week, ahead of the American strikes on Iran, Trump issued his own threat to the supreme leader.

"We know exactly where the so-called ’Supreme Leader’ is hiding," the president warned on social media, calling for Tehran’s unconditional surrender. "He is an easy target."

On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that the Trump administration is not seeking regime change. However overnight Trump posted online that "if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN why wouldn’t there be a Regime change??? MIGA!!!"

Khamenei hasn’t publicly expressed any preference for his successor. The sources said he had repeatedly opposed the idea of his son taking over in succession discussions in the past, concerned about any suggestion of Iran returning to the kind of hereditary rule that ended with the ousting of the shah in 1979.

The role of supreme leader was created after the revolution and then enshrined in the constitution, giving a top holy man ultimate authority in guiding the elected president and parliament.

Officially, the leader is named by the Assembly of Experts, made up of 88 senior holy mans who are chosen through a national election in which a hardline watchdog body aligned with Khamenei must approve all the candidates.

"Whether the Islamic Theocratic Republic survives or not, it will be a very different one, because the context in which it has existed has fundamentally changed," said London-based Iranian political analyst Hossein Rassam, adding that Hassan Khomeini could fit the bill for a leader to take Iran in a new direction.

"The regime has to opt for someone who’ll facilitate slow transition."

Hassan Khomeini’s close links to the reformist faction of Iranian politics, which pursued an ultimately unsuccessful policy of opening Iran to the outside world in the 1990s, saw hardline officials bar him from running as a member of the Assembly of Experts in 2016.

The succession planners are aware that Khomeini is likely to be more palatable to the Iranian population than a hardliner, the five insiders said. Last year he warned of a "crisis of rising popular dissatisfaction" among Iranians due to poverty and deprivation.

By contrast, Mojtaba Khamenei’s views echo those of his father on every major topic from cracking down on opponents to taking a hard line with foreign foes, the sources said — qualities they saw as hazardous with Iran under attack.

A mid-ranking holy man who teaches theology at a religious seminary in the city Qom, the center of Iranian religious life, Mojtaba has never held a formal position the Islamic Theocratic Republic, though he exercises influence behind the scenes as the gatekeeper to his father, according to Iran watchers.

The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Mojtaba in 2019, saying he represented the supreme leader in "an official capacity despite never being elected or appointed to a government position" aside from working in his father’s office.

Several of the candidates long seen as possible successors to Khamenei have already died.

Former president Hashemi Rafsanjani
... the fourth President of Iran. He was a member of the Assembly of Experts until he was eased out in 2011 He continues, for the moment, as Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council. In 2005 he ran for a third term as president, ultimately losing to rival Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Khamenei's graces back then. In 1980 Rafsanjani survived an assassination attempt, during which he was seriously injured. He has been described as a centrist and a pragmatic conservative without all that much reason. He is currently being eased out of any position of actual influence or power and may be dead by the end of 2012...
died in 2017, former judiciary chief Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi died in 2018 and former president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in 2023. Another senior holy man, Sadegh Amoli Larijani, has been sidelined.

Others, such as Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, are still in contention but have fallen behind Mojtaba Khamenei and Hassan Khomeini, the five sources said.

Beyond the most likely candidates, it’s also possible that a less prominent holy man could be chosen as a pawn of the Revolutionary Guards, said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group think tank.

"It is possible that they would put forward a candidate that no one has ever heard of and would not really hold the same levers of power that Ayatollah Khamenei has held now for more than 30 years," he said.

The supreme leader’s voice is powerful.

After the death of the Islamic Theocratic Republic’s founder Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Khamenei was publicly hailed as his predecessor’s choice. Although he had already served as president, Khamenei was only a mid-ranking holy man and was initially dismissed by influential holy mans as weak and an unlikely successor to his charismatic predecessor.

However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
he steadily tightened his grip to become Iran’s unquestioned decision-maker, relying on the Revolutionary Guards as he outmaneuvered rivals and crushed bouts of popular unrest.

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Iranian - Israeli War News roundup for June 22nd, 2025: 50 IDF jets in 2 sorties bombed hundreds more missile and drone targets incl launchers, factories, storage depots as far away as Yazd, ‘at least 9’ IRGC toes up

2025-06-23

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.

IRGC Claims Attack on Ben Gurion Airport, Command Centers in Israel
[Regnum] Iran attacked Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, a biological research center and decision-making centers at various levels during a morning attack on Israel, the Tasnim agency reported, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, part of the country's armed forces).

It was stated that during the 20th wave of attacks carried out as part of Operation True Promise 3, the Iranian military used several long-range ballistic missiles with solid and liquid fuel. The missiles with powerful warheads overcame Israeli air defenses, the IRGC said.

“The main targets were Ben Gurion Airport, the Israel Biological Research Center, logistics bases and various command and control center bureaus,” the statement said.

Israeli media reported that about 30 Iranian missiles were fired at targets in Tel Aviv and Haifa.

As reported by Regnum News Agency, Iran launched a missile strike on Israel after the US attack on nuclear facilities on the night of June 22. US Air Force B-2 bombers attacked three Iranian nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. The last target, as US President Donald Trump specified, was dropped with a "full load of bombs."

Iranian authorities have confirmed that nuclear facilities were hit from the air. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the US violated international law and the UN Charter. He recalled that Iran has the right to a legal response for self-defense. In this regard, Iran retains all opportunities to protect its sovereignty, interests of the country and the nation, the minister emphasized.

More from regnum.ru
Israel Simultaneously Strike Targets in Four Areas of Iran
The Israeli military simultaneously struck rocket launchers, drones and military installations in four areas of Iran. About 30 fighter jets hit dozens of targets across the country, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) press service reported.

"The Israeli Air Force struck missile and drone targets in Isfahan, Bushehr, Ahvaz and, for the first time, Yazd," the IDF said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

It was reported that missile launchers were hit in Isfahan, Bushehr and Ahvaz, as well as military facilities involved in the production of air defense batteries, the Third Brigade UAV command center and a drone warehouse located near it.

In the Yazd region, the Imam Hussein strategic missile command center, where the Khorramshahr long-range missiles were stored, was hit. About 60 missiles were launched at Israel from this center, the IDF noted.

It is specified that the fighters fired more than 60 munitions. Among the destroyed targets were Iranian servicemen loading missile launchers.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on the night of June 13, Israel announced the start of a large-scale military operation against Iran, "Rising Lion", under the pretext of eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons. The Israeli army struck Iranian territory, and several heads of Iran's military departments were killed.

Tehran responded by launching Operation True Promise 3 and began striking Israeli military and military-industrial facilities. Residential areas were hit on both sides, and civilians were killed and wounded in both Israel and Iran.

Even more from regnum.ru
Iranian President Threatens US to Retaliate for Strikes on Nuclear Facilities
The United States of America must receive a response to the strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on June 22.

"The US attacked us. If you were in such conditions, what would you do? Naturally, they must receive a response to their aggression," the Iranian president's press service quotes him as saying.

Pezeshkian recalled that earlier, American representatives claimed that they intended to ensure the "peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," and Tehran welcomed this. However, in the midst of the negotiations, the US began to act "in full coordination with the Zionist regime," the Iranian president said.

The Iranian side has always been ready to negotiate within the framework of international law, but instead Washington demanded Tehran's capitulation, Pezeshkian noted. The people of the republic will not succumb to force and intimidation and will respond accordingly to the aggression of the American side, the Iranian president concluded.

Earlier on June 22, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran would respond to US attacks as long as it deems necessary. The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps navy, Alireza Tangsiri, said that Iran would completely close the Strait of Hormuz, through which oil is exported from the Persian Gulf countries to Asian markets, in response to US attacks on nuclear facilities.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, on the night of June 22, US Air Force B-2 bombers attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. US President Donald Trump called on Iran to conclude a deal and threatened new attacks in case of refusal.

Russia strongly condemned the US strikes. Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev said that Iran would continue to work on its nuclear program and that there were countries in the world ready to transfer their nuclear weapons to Tehran.

Israel presses airstrikes across Iran as US attacks bring battle to ‘turning point’

[IsraelTimes] Air force chief details surprise raid on missile production site over 2,000 kilometers away; Tehran governor says Israel has hit ‘over 200’ sites in capital

Israel’s top general said Sunday that the country’s conflict with Iran had reached a pivotal moment following US strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities, as Israeli planes continued to pound targets in Tehran and western Iran after 10 days of fighting.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir credited close coordination between Israeli and American diplomatic and military leaders for a series of high-powered strikes on Iran’s Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear sites, as Washington stepped into the fray. The US bolstered Israel’s military offensive aimed at destroying Iran’s ability to enrich uranium or build atomic weapons.

“We’ve gotten to a turning point in the battle, after last night, [when] the US military struck central nuclear sites in a lethal, precise and very impressive way,” Zamir said.

“This strike was made possible thanks to the courageous leadership of our partners in the United States and a combined diplomatic and military effort,” he added, noting his close coordination with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. John Daniel Caine and US Central Command chief Gen. Michael Kurilla.

In the US, President Donald Trump said the dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs dropped on the key underground uranium enrichment site at Fordo, along with attacks on nuclear facilities in Isfahan and Natanz, had removed the nuclear threat that had longed stalked Israel and the wider region.

“We had a spectacular military success yesterday, taking the ‘bomb’ right out of their hands (and they would use it if they could!)” he said on social media.

But Zamir noted that the campaign was far from over for Israel. “We still have targets to strike and objectives to complete,” he said. “We are continuing to increase the pace of our attacks in accordance with the plan and are prepared to continue for as long as required.”

According to the military, some 30 fighter jets carried out bombing missions in four areas of Iran earlier Sunday, targeting missile and drone sites. A second sortie later Sunday involved 20 planes dropping 30 bombs on various sites, including in the capital, Tehran.

In the first raid, dozens of targets were hit simultaneously in Isfahan, Bushehr, Ahvaz, and, for the first time, also Yazd, according to the IDF.

The IDF added that some 60 munitions were dropped by the fighter jets in the strikes.

“As part of the wave of strikes, fighter jets targeted for the first time the ‘Imam Hussein’ strategic missile headquarters in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored,” the military said, adding that some 60 missiles had been fired at Israel from the facility.

Footage released by the IDF on June 22, 2025, shows Israeli airstrikes on Iranian missile launchers and soldiers in Iran. (Israel Defense Forces)

According to the military, Israeli Air Force fighter jets flew some 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles) from Israel to strike the site, marking one of its longest sorties yet.

“In broad daylight, we surprised the Imam Hussein missile headquarters in central Iran, the furthest target we’ve struck to date,” said IAF chief Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar in remarks published by the military.

“We destroyed Khorramshahr missiles before they were launched at Israel and struck tunnels used to store the missiles,” Bar said.

Last week’s Israeli jets bombed the Mashhad airport, over 2,300 kilometers from Israel.

At the same time as the strikes in Yazd, Israel also hit missile launchers, air defense battery production sites, a headquarters of an Iranian drone regiment, and a drone storage facility in Isfahan, Bushehr, and Ahvaz, the military said.

During the strikes in Yazd, the IDF said an air force drone identified Iranian soldiers “arming missile launchers, and eliminated them shortly afterward.”

“We are continuing waves of strikes across Iran, disrupting the enemy’s ability to launch salvos into Israeli territory, degrading their firepower capabilities, and operating decisively to defend the Israeli home front and reduce rocket fire,” Bar said.

According to local Iranian media, at least nine members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed Sunday in Israeli attacks on central Iran.

“Following the aggression of the barbaric Zionist regime and its mercenaries against two military centers in Yazd city, seven Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps personnel and two conscripts were martyred,” the Tasnim news agency reported, quoting an IRGC statement.

Others were injured in the attack, it added. The Fars news agency had earlier said Israeli strikes targeted two military sites in Yazd.

Separately, Iranian news agencies reported that an IAF airstrike killed three more IRGC members on Sunday.

The Mehr and Tasnim news agencies reported that the attack took place in Zanjan province in western Iran.

The military announced Sunday evening that its planes also hit infrastructure used to store and launch ballistic missiles, as well as satellites and radar sites in Kermanshah and Hamedan “used for aerial intelligence-gathering.”

Additionally, an air defense system was bombed in “the heart of Tehran,” the military added.

The IDF said the strikes were part of efforts to “degrade the military capabilities of the Iranian regime.”

On Saturday night, hours before the US carried out its strikes, Israeli jets hit an Iranian ballistic missile engine production site near Iran’s Shahrud, some 2,000 kilometers from Israel, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Sunday.

According to the military, the strike hit “planetary mixers and critical machinery used to manufacture missile engines” of the kind that have been fired at Israel in recent days.

“The targeted site is part of the effort to disrupt the Iranian regime’s surface-to-surface missile production industry, which is intended to produce thousands of missiles in the coming years,” the IDF added.

Israel has said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic from realizing its avowed plan to destroy the Jewish state.

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Inside 'Operation Narnia': How Israeli intelligence targeted key Iranian nuclear scientists

2025-06-20

[Jpost] Israel launched Operation "Rising Lion" last Friday, marking a powerful opening strike in its war against Iran. The operation successfully eliminated many senior figures in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and key individuals involved in Iran’s nuclear program.

In a striking twist, the operation targeting Iran’s nuclear scientists is known as "Narnia" in Israel, a name that reflects the operation’s improbable nature, like something out of a fantasy tale rather than a real-world event.

The Mossad responded to this message with a tweet of their own: "Iran claims to have attacked a Mossad building with missile strikes. Fortunately, no one was there... everyone is in Iran."

Throughout the operation, Israeli intelligence officials categorized Iran’s nuclear scientists into four levels for elimination, ranking them from highest to lowest priority. The scientists with the most military expertise and the greatest difficulty in replacing them were ranked highest. Israel then compiled a hit list, ready for execution at command, with the most dangerous scientists at the top.

The successful strike, which also targeted nuclear scientists, was made possible by the Intelligence Directorate’s precise intelligence. The killed scientists and experts were pivotal figures in Iran’s nuclear program, with decades of accumulated experience in nuclear weapons development. Many were direct successors of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, often regarded as the father of Iran’s nuclear program.

KEY SCIENTISTS ELIMINATED IN THE STRIKE
Among the senior nuclear scientists eliminated during the operation were:

Fereydoun Abbasi, a nuclear engineering expert

Mohammad Mahdi Tehranchi, a physics expert

Akbar Matlali Zadeh, a chemical engineering expert

Saeed Beraji, a materials engineering expert

Amir Hassan Faqahi, a physics expert

Abd al-Hamid Minushahr, a reactor physics expert

Mansour Asgari, a physics expert

Ahmad Reza Davalparki Daryani, a nuclear engineering expert

Ali Bakhayi Kathehremi, a mechanical expert

BEHIND THE SCENES: PLANNING THE OPERATION
A senior IDF official provided insight into the operation's planning: "120 individuals from Military Intelligence and the Air Force were brought into a facility in Unit 8200 to plan the operation. By January, the pressure was mounting as no solutions had been found. The consensus was clear - we needed to develop solutions targeting air defense systems."

The official added, "In the past year, we began constructing a target bank, and the breakthrough came when we discovered an intelligence base and an air force base. However, the target bank did not yet contain enough targets. Each team had its own mission: killing nuclear scientists, eliminating command centers, and radar systems. That’s when Operation 'Rising Lion' began."

PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE: ISRAEL’S NEW APPROACH
In an unexpected move, Israel has also embraced psychological warfare, a strategy typically associated with terror regimes but one that Israel has traditionally avoided. On Wednesday, a message posted on the IDF’s X/Twitter account in Persian urged Iranian citizens to contact the Mossad. The message implied that some members within the regime were begging Israel not to turn Iran into another Gaza or Lebanon. It read in Persian: "We understand that you are in a difficult situation under the conditions imposed by the regime. In recent days, we have received messages from our loved ones who fear the uncertain future."

The message continued, "Even members of the regime’s security institutions are expressing fear, despair, and anger at what is happening in Iran and are asking us to contact the Israeli authorities - to avoid the same fate as Gaza and Lebanon. However, we must clarify that we are not the address for such requests, and we direct you to contact the Mossad. Perhaps you will find a way to improve your situation." A link to the Mossad was provided, with a warning to use a secure and encrypted connection (VPN).

The Mossad responded to this message with a tweet of their own: "Iran claims to have attacked a Mossad building with missile strikes. Fortunately, no one was there... everyone is in Iran."

*Snicker* That’s chutzpah.

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