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Cancelling 'Puss in Boots': How Israel's Attempt to Destabilize Iran Failed

2026-09-09

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Israel's anti-Iranian operation "Lion's Roar" continues to unravel. Specifically, details of the Mossad intelligence agency's failed operation to destroy the Iranian vertical power structure have leaked online.

Operation Puss in Boots envisioned a combination of several plans—from organizing a rebellion in the rear to a coup in Tehran—and former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was arguably intended to play a special role. However, these plans were never realized.

COMBINE PLANS
"Puss in Boots" was born, first and foremost, for reasons of optimization.

By January 2026, Israeli intelligence agencies had too many operational plans in the works, all of which were essentially aimed at the same task: breaking the resistance within Iran.

In addition to its ongoing attempts to harness economic protests in the Islamic Republic, Mossad sought ways to strengthen the authority of opposition leaders in exile (primarily a descendant of the last deposed Shah), split the Iranian ruling class, and provoke an “ethnic revolution” in the periphery.

Given the multiple overlaps, the operations were combined into a single multi-move operation dubbed "Puss in Boots." The new plan envisioned launching several simultaneous attacks: inciting rebellion in remote provinces, provoking student protests in the capital, and orchestrating a coup in the highest echelons of power.

The intelligence agency has decided to place a backup bet on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known for his anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric. Apparently, this is in case the Iranian government fails to collapse after the uprising in the periphery and consolidates around determined or odious figures.

In this context, the hawkish and ultra-conservative Ahmadinejad seemed a very likely candidate for the presidency, and his fierce rhetoric about "uprooting Zionism from the Middle East" would clearly resonate widely with the Iranian street and, more importantly, with most of the elite. Although Ahmadinejad's ability to govern was doubted until the very end.

However, given that the main goal of "Lion's Roar" was to decapitate the republic, Israel decided to take the risk. But it was done in such a way as to avoid arousing any premature suspicions.

On February 28, the first day of the "Lion's Roar," Ahmadinejad's residence was bombed. As was later revealed, the strike hit the outbuildings housing the former president's armored vehicle and his personal security detail.

The former president himself was in another wing at the time and was unharmed. Almost immediately after the attack, a black Peugeot with false license plates pulled up to the scene. It picked up Ahmadinejad and fled in an unknown direction shortly before emergency services arrived. A second attack was then launched against the residence, this time targeting the main building.

Thanks to this combination, Iranian elites were convinced for a time that Ahmadinejad had perished under the rubble along with his guards. Iranian state television even managed to label him a martyr.

At this time, the ex-president was allegedly hiding in a “secret hideout” somewhere far from the capital and was supposed to remain there until the final stage of the operation.

However, what happened next was something no source could explain: Ahmadinejad suddenly refused to cooperate and returned to Tehran, where, according to several reports, he took refuge under the wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

At the same time, the authorities were in no particular hurry to debunk the myth of the former president's death, apparently intending to wait for the Israelis to take further steps. But they chose not to take any more risks and canceled "Puss in Boots."

Ahmadinejad was subsequently detained as an accomplice of the enemy – at least, this is the version the Israelis insist on.

WHOSE IDEA?
It's not known for certain who exactly proposed Ahmadinejad as a puppet (and who should be held de facto responsible for the failure of this ambitious operation). Depending on the source, the information varies almost diametrically.

Media outlets close to the government, through which the leak was largely made, hint that the author of the plan was the now former head of Mossad, David Barnea, whose confidants had been "guiding" Ahmadinejad since at least 2024.

It is alleged that Israeli intelligence agents found a way to convert the former president's disappointment at being denied new elections (in favor of the more predictable and manageable Said Jalili) into loyalty and win him over to their side. They even went so far as to secretly pay him for housing and travel, and intelligence agents repeatedly arranged "chance" meetings in third countries.

According to leaked documents, Barnea personally met with Ahmadinejad several times. He spoke with him in early February 2026 in Budapest (approximately a week and a half before the "Lion's Roar"), where Ahmadinejad traveled incognito under the pretext of medical treatment. In Israeli intelligence reports, Ahmadinejad was codenamed "Friend."

In addition, Barnea defended his candidacy to the country's leadership and insisted that relying on "flexible reformists" (for example, former Foreign Minister and "architect" of the US-Iran nuclear deal Mohammad Javad Zari ) would neither help him retain the reins of power for long, nor would it help him collapse Iran.

The opposition press, on the contrary, has labeled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the ideologist behind "Puss in Boots." Netanyahu reportedly insisted on implementing this plan, even when one of its key components—the Kurdish uprising in the border region—failed due to the refusal of nationalist underground fighters to fight without US support.

He defended Ahmadinejad, and during meetings, the source says, even called him "a great friend of Israel." It's possible, however, that the source took the Israeli prime minister's characteristic sarcasm at face value.

LET BYGONES BE BYGONES...
It is noteworthy that details of Operation Puss in Boots were partially leaked to the press back in mid-July, when the New York Times published (citing unnamed sources) a major investigation into the fate of the "suddenly resurrected" Ahmadinejad.

However, no attention was paid to who exactly originated the controversial idea. Repeated leaks in September only further polarized opinion.

However, while few paid attention to the revelations in the summer, a month before the Israeli Knesset elections, the story took on almost symbolic significance. Netanyahu and Barnea found themselves on opposite sides of the fence, searching for ways to further antagonize their opponent.

And so, at the first opportunity, they once again rushed to blame each other for the fact that their "high-ranking mole" ultimately "through his own stupidity" ended up in the hands of Iranian counterintelligence and thwarted an ambitious operation. Even though official Tehran never acknowledged the arrest of the former president.

Be that as it may, Ahmadinejad's public activity has indeed declined sharply in recent months. He was last seen in public in July 2026, attending a meeting of the Expediency Council's economic commission, where he served as one of the speakers. A few days later, he participated in memorial services for Ali Khamenei. Since then, he has not been invited to any major public events.

Ahmadinejad's aides have vehemently denied reports of his arrest, blaming his absence from public view on his "poor health" following Israeli strikes on his residence. However, requests to dispel the speculation—for example, by recording a video message—have been met with a categorical refusal.

It's possible that such caution is dictated by orders from above. Ahmadinejad disappeared from public view in much the same way as Ismail Qaani, whom the Israeli press previously called one of the organizers of the assassination of Khamenei Sr. and "the greatest mole of the 21st century."

But in July 2026, Qaani appeared at the funeral ceremonies as if nothing had happened and was subsequently seen repeatedly in the entourage of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. This indicates that attempts to tarnish his reputation in the eyes of the new leadership had failed.

Tehran is not inclined to organize a witch hunt, especially when the warnings about betrayal at the top come exclusively from the mouths of its strategic opponents.

At the same time, there are many in Iran's conservative camp who want to completely remove the former president from the game, including due to his unpredictability and impulsiveness.

As the reformist bloc led by President Masoud Pezeshkian suffers ever greater image costs from the increasing sanctions pressure on Iran, the desire for decisive change and a show of force – from a final withdrawal from negotiations with the US to acquiring nuclear weapons – is growing among ordinary citizens.

This is precisely what radical hawks like Ahmadinejad promise hotheads. Any attempt to harness such revanchist sentiments is guaranteed to upset the balance between the president and the supreme leader, who, despite his assertive rhetoric, prefers to remain pragmatic, and provoke a rift. The Israelis will be quick to exploit this.

Therefore, "Puss in Boots" effectively ends Ahmadinejad's political career. Even if the reports of his arrest and treason charges are an Israeli hoax, the former president will clearly have to put any high-profile positions in Iranian public policy on hold for now. At least until the situation in the region stabilizes.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Neither Shock nor Awe: How Iran Exposed a Crisis in US Military Thought

2026-04-17

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Andrey Bulkin

[REGNUM] In its confrontation with Iran, the United States faces a serious problem: both of Washington's key intervention strategies—first, organizing a coup from within, and then a military campaign aimed at a rapid change of power in the country—have failed.

But large sections of the Mad Mullah government and military tables of organization now stand empty, which is a quantity that has a quality all its own…
Humanity is currently experiencing a global shift in eras,

…a truly profound statement. How meaningful it is remains to be seen, but it is definitely profound…

and the manifestations of this fundamental process can be seen particularly clearly in major conflicts. In particular, despite the pronouncements of the White House and the Pentagon, the entire world has witnessed a crisis in the American concept of intervention in the affairs of other countries, which has been in place for over a quarter of a century.

What's happening clearly demonstrates that the old models by which the Americans are accustomed to building their planetary hegemony no longer work.

Which is perhaps why President Trump seeks actively to be a disrupter, a very different model…

The "world policeman," having decided to reiterate its military might, unexpectedly revealed weakness to everyone, especially itself, thereby alienating even traditional allies and vassals—and now risks being left completely alone.

A common opinion, but is it true?

oTHE PERSIAN SPRING FAILED
Over the past decades, the United States has perfected the technique of replacing undesirable governments without direct military intervention.

The method of nonviolent resistance, better known as "velvet" or "color revolutions," has become a hallmark of American foreign policy. Its essence is simple: exploit existing economic and social problems in the country to, with the help of agents of influence, typically nonprofit organizations of various stripes, organize mass protests that, with external financial and media support, lead to a change of government.

Classic examples of this technology's application are well known. It was first tested at the end of the Cold War, when a wave of "velvet revolutions" swept across Eastern Europe in the 1980s. These events led to the region's transition into the US sphere of influence and their subsequent accession to NATO and the European Union.

In 2000, the Serbian Otpor movement, with the support of Western NGOs, overthrew Slobodan Milošević. In 2004, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine prevented Viktor Yanukovych from taking power despite his election victory, and a year earlier, a similar story occurred during the Rose Revolution in Georgia.

Finally, the "Arab Spring" of 2011–2012 led to a reshuffle of power in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya. Technology, of course, kept pace with the times. During the events in Arab countries, for example, protesters began to massively use social media and special apps that allowed them to communicate with each other and their coordinators, avoiding detention by law enforcement.

Apparently, Iran seemed like a suitable candidate for the US to use the same technology.

The spark ignited on December 28, 2025, after the collapse of the Iranian rial, which led to a rise in prices. As is typical in such situations, protests sparked by socioeconomic problems quickly escalated into political protests. By early January, they had spread throughout the country. This time, the rioters added Starlink terminals to their arsenal, allowing them to bypass internet and other communications blackouts and shutdowns used by the authorities to limit the spread of unrest.

These were the largest street protests since 1979, but the coup Washington had hoped for never materialized. There were several reasons why the technique, which had been successfully used in Belgrade, Tbilisi, Kyiv, Tunis, and Cairo, failed to work.

First of all, Iran turned out to be far from a dictatorship rooted in the cult of a single leader, as the White House attempted to portray. The Iranian political system is so complex that it is extremely difficult to disrupt by outside influence. Unlike Egypt under Mubarak or Libya under Gaddafi, where power was largely based on the personality of the head of state and his inner circle, the Islamic Republic is a diversified conglomerate of power and security institutions.

True.

Power here is distributed among the Supreme Leader, the President, the Majlis (the unicameral parliament), the Guardian Council, the Council of Experts, the Expediency Council, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which partially overlap and back each other up. This is not a political system where removing the top brass is enough to bring everything down—and, in general, removing anything in such conditions using so-called "non-violent methods" is very difficult.

The second reason is historical memory. In 1953, the CIA and British intelligence overthrew the legitimately elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, who had nationalized Iranian oil.

In the short term, these events benefited the United States, but, as often happens in American foreign policy, over time they began to work against them. The coup not only strengthened the Shah's authoritarian rule but also cemented in Iranian minds the image of the West as one that would stop at nothing for its own gain. This created fertile ground for the Islamic Revolution of 1979, and in 2026, it allowed the Iranian authorities to portray Western support for the protests as an attempt to repeat the 1953 coup.

Another reason is the lack of a clear alternative. For a "color revolution" to succeed, it requires not only hatred for the old regime but also a clear vision of what will replace it. In Iran, there is no such alternative. Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah, is the only recognizable Iranian in the West, but within Iran, he is unpopular. He is associated with the corrupt monarchy, its repressive apparatus, and its humiliating dependence on the United States.

Thus, the "color revolution" strategy crashed against the ideological and institutional armor of the Islamic Republic. Convinced that the externally inspired protest had failed, Washington moved to Plan B—a lightning-fast military campaign, as the Pentagon hoped, designed to achieve what the protesters had failed to achieve.

IT DIDN'T WORK TO INTIMIDATE
The doctrine of "Shock and Awe" - or "Rapid Dominance" - was developed by Harlan Ullman and James Wade in 1996. Its essence is radically different from classical ideas about war.

The goal is not to destroy the enemy's army as such, but to weaken its will to resist through powerful strikes, widespread destruction, and psychological pressure in the first days. The goal is to induce in the enemy a state comparable to that experienced by the people of Japan after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but using conventional weapons to completely crush resistance at an early stage.

The paradigmatic application of the doctrine, although never officially adopted, was the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In the first days, approximately 1,700 airstrikes were carried out and over 500 cruise missiles were launched. Baghdad fell within three weeks.

However, even then, the flaw in the concept became apparent: despite its achievements, "Shock and Awe" still failed to completely break the Iraqis. Saddam Hussein was only toppled after a full-scale ground invasion, followed by a protracted guerrilla resistance that lasted for many years and claimed the lives of thousands of American soldiers.

Nevertheless, many of the techniques of this doctrine have become firmly entrenched in the Pentagon's arsenal, and in 2026 they decided to use it against Iran – but on a much larger scale.

The first day of the war, according to Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of the Pentagon's Central Command, was "almost twice as large" in terms of munitions expended as the 2003 attack on Iraq. Over four days, the US hit nearly 2,000 targets.

Israel intensified its attacks, striking approximately 1,000 targets per day. They employed Tomahawk cruise missiles, B-52 bombers, F-35 and F-15 fighters, as well as advanced weapons such as the PrSM missiles, which emerged after the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and LUCAS attack drones.

A significant portion of Iran's political leadership was eliminated on the very first day—Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, along with several senior commanders of the IRGC and the Iranian Armed Forces. Many military installations were damaged or destroyed. However, the "shock" produced failed to induce awe in the Iranians.

The country's leadership quickly mobilized the Basij (a popular militia numbering hundreds of thousands of fighters) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which views this war as nothing less than an eschatological battle between good and evil. Khamenei's assassination merely activated the constitutional mechanism of succession. Neither the political system nor the military command collapsed, continuing to function normally, and a new rahbar (supreme leader) was soon elected—the son of the slain Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, an IRGC veteran and participant in the Iran-Iraq War.

He’s the wounded homosexual who hasn’t been seen in public since, so there is some question how much leading he is capable of doing.

Thus, instead of the previous, already quite elderly leader, who disliked the United States for ideological reasons, the country was led by a younger leader who now also has personal reasons to hate the Americans: since the start of the war, not only his father but also his wife and son have fallen victim to the bombings.

Iran's key command centers and military depots are located underground, out of reach of aircraft. Air defenses have adopted guerrilla tactics: large systems like the S-300 have been hidden, as their radars become highly visible targets when activated.

Instead, mobile teams with infrared guidance systems operate across the country, hunting from ambush in passive mode, remaining undetected by the enemy. It even got to the point where one of these teams shot down an F-35—the Iranians may not have known it was stealth, significantly tarnishing the reputation of the already less-than-successful fifth-generation fighter.

At sea, things are not looking good for the US either – despite the fact that most of the Iranian navy's ships were sunk, the threat from the "mosquito fleet," mines, and sea and air drones does not allow the attacking side to feel free in the Persian Gulf.

WAR BY ITS OWN RULES
Instead of obediently "trembling" before what it claims to be the most powerful army in the world, Iran, which retains an impressive arsenal of missiles and drones, opted for an asymmetrical response, which proved devastating for that part of the American military machine operating in the Middle East.

Uh huh. Devastating.

During the first month of the standoff, Iranian missiles and drones attacked American bases across the region. In Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, allied movements rallied to support the Iranians, also striking US and Israeli targets.

Meanwhile, the Gulf states, on whose active support the White House had counted, chose to distance themselves, unwilling to be drawn into a battle with an uncertain outcome that, by many indications, threatens to drag on for a long time. Even after Iranian strikes on bases located on their territory, the US military limited itself to expressions of concern.

The passive and highly ambiguous response of NATO's European partners to the Middle East operation came as an even more unpleasant surprise to Washington, with Donald Trump making no attempt to hide his disappointment. Even Israel, with which the United States shares equal responsibility, ultimately chose to focus on its more familiar Lebanon.

It's therefore unsurprising that the United States is currently facing a difficult time—Plan B hasn't worked either. According to official Pentagon data, 13 American service members were killed and over 300 wounded in the first month of the war. The IRGC cites very different figures—hundreds killed and over a thousand wounded. The gap in estimates is significant, but even official US data indicates that Iran has managed to inflict significant losses on US forces.

The material damage suffered by the US as a result of Iranian strikes and "friendly fire" during the month-long fighting was colossal. The loss of a dozen aircraft, several helicopters, and important radars, including the largest in the region, resulted in multibillion-dollar losses and created a gap in US air defenses not only in the Middle East but also potentially in other theaters of war—for example, in the event of a conflict with China.

What's worse for the Pentagon is that all the efforts and expenditures have failed to weaken Iranian resistance.

In addition to strikes on vulnerable military targets, Iran relied on economic countermeasures—and they worked brilliantly. Tehran understood the key: the US can win battles, but lose a war if it becomes too costly.

Therefore, strikes were carried out not only against military bases but also against the oil infrastructure of US allies in the Persian Gulf and against ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20 percent of the world's oil supplies and up to 30 percent of fertilizer shipments pass. The American Enterprise Institute estimates that the daily cost of the fighting for the US was approximately half a billion dollars, with total losses over five weeks ranging from $22 to $31 billion.

Iran has thus managed to make the war economically unprofitable for the Americans. Potential gains look increasingly illusory compared to the real losses the US and its allies are already suffering. As The Hill writes, "Even if Trump bombs Iran back to the Stone Age, as the US did to North Vietnam, who will win?"

This conflict has exposed a fundamental crisis in American strategic thinking. Iran has proven that it's possible to lose oil rigs, air power, naval assets, and military bases while still inflicting unacceptable damage on the enemy's economy and global interests. It appears the future lies in wars of attrition, where victory is measured by how quickly the enemy is exhausted, not simply beaten and terrified, as "Shock and Awe" envisioned.

Iran’s birth rate has been far below replacement for decades, and their equipment is ancient and crumbling, not to mention that many of their munitions their factories have been kaboomed. How much more attrition can they absorb before they’re down to old men and little boys wielding stones and sticks?

The rial is at its weakest ever: 1.6M to the dollar — on track for 2M, faster than expected.

Hyperinflation. Mass unemployment. War damage above 40% of GDP. $13B lost every month under blockade (see @FDD @miadmaleki @ElaineDezenski Dan Swift).

The regime is staring at economic…
— Mark Dubowitz (@mdubowitz) April 15, 2026

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran names ex-IRGC commander Zolghadr to succeed Larijani as security chief

2026-03-25

[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
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 24, 2026

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.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iranian Opposition Group [People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK)] Says It Attacked Khamenei's Compound ‐ ‘Heavy Clashes' in Tehran

2026-02-26

[Breitbart] An Iranian opposition group took credit for a coordinated assault on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Tehran headquarters this week, reporting “heavy clashes” with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that allegedly left more than 100 of its fighters killed, wounded, or arrested.

The Command Headquarters of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) said the operation began at dawn Monday, February 23, during the call to morning prayer, and continued into the afternoon around the Motahari Complex in central Tehran — one of the Islamic Republic’s most heavily fortified seats of power.

According to the group, more than 250 fighters were involved in the clashes. It said over 100 were “martyred, wounded, or detained,” while more than 150 positioned within the compound’s outer security perimeter “safely returned to their bases” by midnight Tehran time.

On Wednesday, the PMOI/MEK said it submitted the names and identifying details of 26 additional individuals — including those killed, missing, or detained during Monday’s operation — to the United Nations Special Rapporteur and other international human rights organizations, urging authorities to clarify their status and whereabouts.

The group renewed its call for international representatives to meet with detainees and to be granted access to view the bodies of those reported killed. It added that two professional cameramen who went to the scene solely to film the events are among the missing and said their identifying details were also forwarded to international authorities.

The PMOI/MEK’s internal command headquarters further stated that, following the reported assault, regime army and IRGC air defense and combat units remain on full alert around the compound.

The specific casualty figures and operational details could not be independently verified, though regime-affiliated outlets later acknowledged explosions and unrest in the heavily secured Pasteur district.

The Motahari Complex — covering roughly half a square kilometer (approximately 150 acres) — houses not only Khamenei’s main office but also the Guardian Council, the Assembly of Experts, the Supreme National Security Council, the Expediency Council, the central offices of the judiciary and intelligence ministry, and the office and residence of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the supreme leader and widely viewed as his heir apparent.

The opposition group described a multilayered security architecture surrounding the site, including reinforced concrete walls more than four meters (over 13 feet) high topped with anti-drone and anti-projectile barriers, along with internal compartmentalization giving each building its own perimeter wall.

Nearly 5,000 members of the elite IRGC Vali-e Amr Protection Corps and the Ansar al-Mahdi Corps are tasked with guarding the compound, according to the group, which identified overall command as IRGC Brigadier General Hassan Mashrou’i-Far, known as Emami.

Seventeen rotating surveillance cameras encircle the complex, the PMOI/MEK said, asserting that several were disabled at dawn with alleged inside assistance prior to the assault.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

'Stolen Freedoms': Who's Burning Hijabs on Iranian Streets?

2025-10-26

Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] The debate over the status of religious symbols in Iran has been ongoing for many years and seemed to be perpetual. However, in early October, senior Iranian officials announced a "significant relaxation" of regulations regarding the wearing of hijabs in response to increasing public unrest.

This wasn't the first time the Iranian authorities had made such a statement, so the news wasn't a sensation. However, videos that emerged recently of Iranian girls ceremoniously burning their headscarves indirectly confirmed Tehran's serious intentions to reconsider its approach to this sensitive issue.

However, the real driver of change was not the social, but the military-political challenges that Iran has faced in recent months.

HIJAB REVOLUTIONS
Debates over the status and significance of the hijab have been raging in Iran since almost the first days of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The country's authorities have alternately tightened and relaxed legislation on the subject—by the mid-2000s, most women wore headscarves only nominally, not fully covering their hair, and opting for brightly colored fabrics.

In contrast, there were constant incidents involving abuses of power by individual "advocates" of religious observance. Iranian society, especially its female counterpart, responded with strikes and demonstrations.

The peak of tension is considered to have been September 2022, when student Mahsa Amini was killed by a religious patrol who detained her for improperly wearing a hijab.

The day after the girl's death, the country was engulfed by youth protests, informally dubbed the "hijab revolution" or "Mahsa revolution." The unrest spread to most major cities.

Although the protests didn't break any records in terms of numbers (there have been larger demonstrations in the Republic's history), they posed a serious challenge to the central authorities. Primarily because one of the symbols of the Islamic Revolution came under attack.

Nevertheless, the authorities decided to compromise with the protesters and promised to develop measures to relax relevant legislation. Furthermore, by the end of 2022, Iran's "morality police" (Gasht-e Ershad), which monitored religious observance among the Iranian population and whose actions largely provoked the "hijab revolution," was disbanded. Tehran made it a scapegoat in the recent crisis.

And although the exiled opposition frightened Iranians with news of the imminent return of "morality patrols" to the streets by mid-2024, in reality the organization was indeed disbanded, and its members dispersed to other agencies.

The idea of "all-powerful hashts" was finally abandoned by July 2024, when the country's newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, officially announced that Iran's morality police would no longer "harass" women about the mandatory wearing of the hijab.

OPPOSITION ARGUMENTS
However, the topic of hijabs returned to the agenda in the summer of 2025, when Israel launched Operation Lion Force against Iran.

Taking advantage of the social upheaval, opponents of the current government (primarily monarchists) attempted to win over the hesitant electorate, including by pressing on sensitive issues such as the wearing of hijabs.

In particular, supporters of the deposed Pahlavi dynasty these days recalled the Shah's "Opening" decree (Kashf-e Hijab) of 1936, when the government banned the imposition of religious symbols on the population and embarked on a course of accelerated Westernization. Along the way, they promised that the Shah's reformist grandson, Shahzade Reza Pahlavi, would "return the country's stolen freedoms."

At the same time, the opposition tactfully omitted the fact that the deposed Shah Mohammed Reza himself laid the foundation for Tehran's current attitude towards hijabs, turning them into a symbol of dignity and resistance to the West.

Other opposition factions also tried to intervene, such as the radical leftist "Organization of Iranian People's Mujahideen." Its representatives called on supporters of the largest movements for women's religious rights (the Girls of Enghelab Street, the Mahsa Movement, and others) to rise up against Tehran and defend their rights in battle.

True, unlike the monarchists, the leftists tried to simultaneously flirt with conservative circles, promising to make wearing hijabs in the “new Iran” a voluntary matter, but not one condemned by the masses.

Opposition members from various factions also took the opportunity to take a dig at President Pezeshkian, recalling that the "Hijab and Chastity Law," adopted by his predecessors in 2023 after protests (and which significantly increased penalties for improper wearing of religious symbols), was never officially repealed by the reformist bloc.

They also recalled the much-discussed project of "help clinics" for women who refuse to wear the hijab in public places (presented at the end of 2024), in the development of which Pezeshkian allegedly had a hand.

Thus, the opposition's arguments boiled down to the fact that the Iranian authorities, despite public promises to ease pressure on women, in fact continued their previous course—but with attempts to shift the problem to a less public arena.

Official Tehran ignored the opposition's statements, but, as it later turned out, only for a while.

NUANCES OF CANCELLATION
Mohammadreza Bahonar, a member of the Expediency Council (an advisory body to the Supreme Leader, tasked with resolving disputes between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and parliament), seemed to have put an end to the saga of the hijab's status in Iran. In early October 2025, he declared that the "Hijab and Chastity Law" was no longer enforceable, and that the morality police had no right to punish women for failing to comply with the previous rules.

Bahonar also emphasized that the law had been suspended by Iran's Supreme National Security Council back in May 2025, but the decision was not covered in the press. With this straightforward argument, the Expediency Council representative inadvertently rebuffed Western arguments that the liberalization decision was a consequence of the Israeli military campaign in June 2025, rendering further promotion of this argument pointless.

In effect, Iran's top leadership has made it clear that it prioritizes the interests of the population over adherence to specific symbols. This was an important step toward "closing ranks" after the June war, as well as in light of the significantly tightened sanctions regime against the country. Given this approach, weakening the hijab's significance for Tehran is the least of its possible losses.

Iranian society, especially women, reacted enthusiastically to the news: the internet was flooded with numerous videos of women burning their headscarves to the applause of crowds. Although the videos included in the collection were filmed as early as 2022 (during the "hijab revolution"), eyewitnesses on the ground confirmed that similar actions took place in the fall of 2025.

At the same time, Iran is only just beginning to balance the secular and religious camps and restore the equilibrium that existed before 2022. While the lifting of restrictions was enthusiastically received in the capital and other major cities, in rural areas the old way of life has remained.

Furthermore, parliamentarians will soon be required to conduct a large-scale audit of legislation and social norms in order to reformulate laws indirectly related to the hijab law and thus eliminate the risk of dual interpretation of the same provisions.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran Calls For ''islamic Army'' With Turkey, Saudi, Pakistan

2025-06-16

[X]

🚨🇮🇷PANIC IN IRAN: TEHRAN RESIDENTS JAM HIGHWAYS TO ESCAPE ADDITIONAL AIRSTRIKE

The capital of Iran is in full-blown panic mode.

Massive traffic jams stretch for miles as residents flee the city, terrified of another Israeli air force attack.

This comes after recent strikes… https://t.co/5rvZLe9JsS pic.twitter.com/T74ima5NwT
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) June 15, 2025

…This comes after recent strikes have rattled nerves and sparked a wave of fear across the country.

Cars are crawling out of the city like it’s the end of the world - or at least the start of another one.

Source: Yediot Ahronot
***************
Rezaee isn’t fringe... he’s IRGC brass and a senior figure on Iran’s Expediency Council.

Translation? Tehran wants to turn regional chaos into coalition power.

Problem is: Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan aren’t exactly eager to wear Iran’s uniform.

But if even one says yes, the entire regional order shifts overnight.

Source:
@visegrad24

Media: ncr-iran

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria expected to join ‘resistance front’ soon: Iranian official

2025-01-23

[Rudaw] Syria is expected to join the Iranian-led "resistance front" soon, a member of the Expediency Council said on Wednesday, despite the ousting of key Tehran ally Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
"The Syrian nation will join the resistance front very soon and 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...
is also seeking the independence and illusory sovereignty of Syria. In Syria, an inclusive government should be formed, consisting of all groups in Syria," Mohsen Rezai, a member of the Expediency Council, said, as cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Expediency Discernment Council of Iran is a top body established by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
that adjudicates on differences between the parliament and the hardline Guardian Council, which can block legislation.

Iran was a staunch supporter of Assad’s Syrian regime, which was toppled by a coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by the Islamist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

Tahrir al-Sham, formerly al-Nusra, before that it was called something else

...al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, from which sprang the Islamic State...
(HTS) on December 8.

Rezai criticized the interference of external powers in Syria and emphasized its detrimental impact on the country.

" The Americans have strengthened their base in eastern Syria, and ~~The Sick Man of Europe~~ Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
is present in the north and Israel in the south of Syria," he said.

But Tehran also faced regular accusations of interference in Syria’s internal affairs during Assad’s reign, when it stationed military advisors around the country and established cultural centers aligned to its agenda during the brutal civil war.

Assadist Syria was a key component of Iran’s so-called "Axis of Resistance®," a network of influence in the Middle East to expand Iran’s hegemony and counter Western interests.

Iran last month blamed the US and Israel for being behind the recent developments in Syria since the fall of Assad and accused them of having a "master plan" for the Middle East after a Washington official said there would be no place for Iran in the new Syria.

The new Syrian authorities subsequently warned Iran against "spreading chaos" in their country and called on Tehran to respect the will of the Syrian people.

Syria has also warned Iran against "spreading chaos" in their country and called on Tehran to respect the will of the Syrian people.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran says it launched satellite that West fears may advance ballistic missile program, continues to enrich uranium

2024-09-15

[IsraelTimes] Tehran claims satellite built to ‘test hardware and software systems for orbital maneuver technology validation’

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...
launched a satellite into space Saturday with a rocket built by the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, state-run media reported, the latest for a program the West fears helps Tehran advance its ballistic missile program.

Iran described the launch as a success, which would be the second such launch to put a satellite into orbit with the rocket. There was no immediate independent confirmation of the launch’s success.

Footage later released by Iranian media showed the rocket blast off from a mobile launcher. An News Agency that Dare Not be Named analysis of the video and other imagery later released suggested the launch happened at the Guard’s launch pad on the outskirts of the city of Shahroud, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) east of the capital, Tehran.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia had made her point with her knee to Jane's stomach...
Iran continues to enrich uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, raising concerns among nonproliferation experts about Tehran’s program.

Iran identified the satellite-carrying rocket as the Qaem-100, which the Guard used in January for another successful launch. Qaem means "upright" in Iran’s Farsi language.

The solid-fuel, three-stage rocket put the Chamran-1 satellite, weighing 60 kilograms (132 pounds), into a 550-kilometer (340-mile) orbit, state media reported. The rocket bore a Koranic verse: "That which is left by Allah is better for you, if you are believers."

A state-owned subsidiary of Iran’s Defense Ministry and experts at the Aerospace Research Institute built the satellite with others to "test hardware and software systems for orbital maneuver technology validation," state media said without elaborating.

Gen. Hossein Salami, the head of the Guard, praised the launch in a statement and said scientists successfully overcame "the atmosphere of extensive and oppressive international sanctions."

The US State Department and the American military did not immediately respond to requests for comment over the Iranian launch.

The United States had previously said Iran’s satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no activity involving ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. UN sanctions related to Iran’s ballistic missile program expired last October.

Under Iran’s former president Hassan Rouhani
...Iran's moderate president, which he was, relative to his predecessor, which doesn't mean he was anything but a puppet of the nearest holy man...>
, the Islamic Theocratic Republic slowed its space program for fear of raising tensions with the West. His successor, hard-line late president Ebrahim Raisi, a protege of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
who came to power in 2021, pushed the program forward. Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May.

It’s unclear what Iran’s new president, the reformist Masoud Pezeshkian, wants for the program, as he was silent on the issue while campaigning.

The US intelligence community’s worldwide threat assessment this year said Iran’s development of satellite launch vehicles "would shorten the timeline" for Iran to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.

Intercontinental ballistic missiles can be used to deliver nuclear weapons. Iran is now producing uranium close to weapons-grade levels after the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers. Tehran has enough enriched uranium for "several" nuclear weapons if it chooses to produce them, the head of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency repeatedly has warned.

Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says its space program, like its nuclear activities, is for purely civilian purposes. However,
if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well...
US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003.

The launch also came ahead of the second anniversary of the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, which sparked nationwide protests against Iran’s mandatory headscarf, or hijab, law and the country’s Shiite theocracy.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran supreme leader says 'enemies' involved in protests

2022-10-13

Iran supreme leader says 'enemies' involved in protests #World https://t.co/hDceQXV5pU
— Naharnet (@Naharnet) October 12, 2022

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...
on Wednesday said "enemies" were involved in street violence that erupted last month over the death of Mahsa Amini.

Khamenei has already accused the United States, Israel and their "agents" of fomenting the unrest sparked by Amini's death after her arrest for allegedly failing to adhere to the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

"Today, everyone confirms the involvement of the enemies in these street riots," Khamenei said Wednesday in a televised meeting with the Expediency Council, an advisory body.

"The actions of the enemy, such as propaganda, trying to influence minds, creating excitement, encouraging and even teaching the manufacture of incendiary materials, are now completely clear," he said, without identifying the enemy.

Earlier Wednesday, the judiciary said it had charged more than 100 people over the protests in Tehran and Hormozgan provinces.

"Some of these people are either enemy agents or... aligned with the enemy, and some are excited people," Khamenei said.

"The judicial and security authorities must do their duty" in dealing with the "enemy agents", he said.

Since September 16, dozens of people -- mainly protesters but also members of the security forces -- have been killed while hundreds of others have been arrested in several cities across the country.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran: election candidate threatens to try rival for treason during TV debate

2021-06-06

[Guardian] Iran’s presidential election candidates have engaged in a fiery and bruising first television debate, during which one promised to put another, the former governor of the central bank, on trial for treason and ban him and other members of the government from leaving the country.
Good. Let's you and him go fight.
The threat to put Abdolnaser Hemmati on trial was made on Saturday by the former leader of the Revolutionary Guards Mohsen Rezaei, currently secretary of the Expediency Council. He claimed the Iranian currency had been devalued so much by Hemmati that "the train of the revolution has turned into a scooter".

The new president will replace Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist
Either the Twelfth Imam has appeared or he hasn't
who twice won landslide votes against hardline opponents after campaigning to open up Iran’s economy to the world. Rouhani had only limited success, after the US abandoned a nuclear agreement and reimposed sanctions.
So what did he do with all our cash?
The narrow focus on the state of the economy had the effect of putting Hemmati on the back foot as five conservative-inclined candidates ganged up on him to portray him as the incumbent and blame him for his stewardship, especially for high inflation and the collapse of the exchange rate.

Hemmati hit back by saying most of the other candidates were simply cover for Raisi and dared them to give an undertaking they would not pull out of the race before polling day. He said he was proud he had not allowed Iran to go the way of Venezuela, adding he was standing to prevent the country’s economy becoming the same as North Korea’s, a reference to the heavy emphasis on state planning in his rival’s proposals.
Wait. I thought being like Venezuela was a good thing. Ask Bernie.
He ridiculed Rezaei’s remarks that the country’s foreign exchange earnings could be boosted by taking western soldiers hostage.
There's a guy who's thinking outside of the box. But why not Chinese soldiers, I wonder, or Russians?

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Iran hit hardest as oil price war, cornavirus cripples nation

2020-03-10

[FOXNEWS] The one-two punch of coronavirus and an escalating oil price war that is roiling world markets is hurting one country more than any other: Iran.

Already dealing with a deadly outbreak, the Islamic Theocratic Republic, heavily dependent on oil revenues, is in no position to deal with the lowest per-barrel prices seen in decades.

"$20 oil in 2020 is coming," tweeted Ali Khedery, a former U.S. official in Iran
Iran

Another doctor dies in #Iran after spending weeks trying to save patients infected with coronavirus https://t.co/21Nay2eN2K
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 9, 2020

#BREAKING: The death toll for coronavirus rises to 237 in Iran as over 7,000 people are infected with the virus — health ministry official. pic.twitter.com/xh9t7bAUSs
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 9, 2020

Iran furloughs 70,000 prisoners as it battles virus
[PRESSTV] Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raeisi says Iran
Iran

Twenty-seven people have died from methanol poisoning in #Iran after rumors that drinking alcohol can help cure the novel #coronavirus infection. https://t.co/WXjEPBB8jV
— Saudi Gazette (@Saudi_Gazette) March 9, 2020

#Breaking: Hussain Mohammadi, a member at the #Iranian Expediency Council and a key figure at #Khamenei's office has infected with #coronavirus #BaghdadPost #coronavirus #COVID19 #COVID2019 #irancorona #CoronaVirusIran #Corona pic.twitter.com/Tq9f9TWYKa
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) March 10, 2020

The daily victims of #coronavirus, found in #Iran's streets, expose the ugliness of regime in covering up the seriousness of the situation #BaghdadPost #coronavirus #COVID19 #COVID2019 #irancorona #CoronaVirusIran #Corona pic.twitter.com/UIgPZ95qFz
— The Baghdad Post (@BaghdadPostPlus) March 9, 2020

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Secret Facility At Hizballah’s Beirut Hospital Cares For Iranian High-Ups Down With Corona

2020-03-10

From Debka, salt to taste.

Hizballah’s Al-Rasool Al Aatham University hospital in south Beirut has been converted to a secret facility for treating high Iranian officials infected with coronavirus, various Lebanese sources reveal. Tehran’s Lebanese proxy boasts that its hospital operates according to strict Shiite Islamic tenets.

Meaning a defacto death sentence.

Transferring high-profile victims outside the country to a secret venue appears to be part of the Islamic regime’s cover-up of the real figures and death toll from coronavirus in a country of 80 million which, alongside Italy, is seen as a primary source of global contagion.

The Hizballah-Iran operation flies high Iranian officials down with the disease from Tehran to Beirut by direct flight. This is one means of concealing the true scale of the infection across the country, but also high officials benefit from better treatment than they would in Tehran. There are no details about the numbers of these transfers.

The regime only reports the deaths of prominent officials post factum. The last death reported on Thursday, March 5, was of Mohammad Mirmohammadi, who was a member of the Expediency Council which chooses national leaders and a close adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Friday, a female member of parliament Fatima Rahabar, succumbed to the virus.

No international health authority engaged in halting the spread of coronavirus has laid hands on reliable information for determining the scale of Iran’s contagion. It is also kept secret from the domestic authorities in Tehran. If anyone has the true figures of the numbers of Iranians infected and/or dead of corona-19 it would most likely be a very tight circle of regime leaders within the supreme ruler’s inner circle and top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards.

In the early stages of the virus, cases were reported in the shrine city of Qom, a popular center of international Shiite pilgrimage, and therefore a primary source of contagion to other parts of the Shiite world.

Stop the lick and you may not get sick.

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