Iran's ‘paper tiger' leadership will fall, Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi predicts
She spoke a day after a shaky ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump took hold between Iran and Israel, ending a short but intense air war in which Israeli strikes seemingly targeted Iran's senior leadership at will.
'The people of Iran and the world saw that and realised what a paper tiger this administration is,' Ebadi said in an interview in London, where she has lived in self-imposed exile since 2009.
Ebadi, a lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work defending human rights, has been a staunch critic of the Shiite Muslim clerical establishment that has ruled Iran since 1979.
Security officials said Khamenei, 86, went into hiding during the conflict, which wiped out the top echelon of Iran's military leadership and killed its leading nuclear scientists.
03:29
Netanyahu suggests killing Iran's supreme leader would end conflict
Netanyahu suggests killing Iran's supreme leader would end conflict
'The people will not trust a leader who hides during times of war,' Ebadi said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
4 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Netanyahu demands Gaza City is taken faster than planned
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered that Gaza City be captured more quickly than previously planned. Advertisement The 'timeline for conquering the last terrorist strongholds and defeating Hamas' should be shortened, Netanyahu's office said on Wednesday without giving details. Army spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin announced that Israeli forces had already occupied the outskirts of Gaza City but it is still unclear when the full ground offensive will begin. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz earlier approved the call-up of around 60,000 additional reservists for the capture of Gaza City. Media reports have said that the residents of what was the largest settlement in Gaza were to be evacuated to refugee camps in the centre of the sealed-off territory by the beginning of October. Advertisement 'We have begun the preliminary operations and the first stages of the attack on Gaza City, and already now IDF forces are holding the outskirts of Gaza City,' Defrin told reporters.
South China Morning Post
19 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Israel mobilises 60,000 reservists to seize Gaza City, heaping pressure on Hamas
Israel's defence minister has approved a plan for the conquest of Gaza City and authorised the call-up of around 60,000 reservists to carry it out, his ministry confirmed on Wednesday. Advertisement Defence Minister Israel Katz's move piled pressure on Hamas as mediators pushing for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year war in Gaza awaited an official Israeli response on their latest proposal. While mediator Qatar had expressed guarded optimism over the latest proposal, a senior Israeli official said the government stood firm on its call for the release of all hostages in any agreement. The framework that Hamas had approved proposes an initial 60-day truce, a staggered hostage release, the freeing of some Palestinian prisoners and provisions allowing for the entry of aid into Gaza. Israel and Hamas have held on-and-off indirect negotiations throughout the war, resulting in two short truces during which Israeli hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Advertisement The latest truce proposal came after Israel's security cabinet approved plans to conquer Gaza City, despite fears it will worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Netanyahu's Gaza plan is about his own political survival
Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@ or filling in this Google form . Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification This month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans for the military takeover of Gaza , portraying it as a decisive step to eliminate Hamas, free hostages and secure Israel's future. In reality, it marks a dangerous escalation and a failure of political imagination, more likely to deepen instability than bring peace. Israel says it already controls about 75 per cent of Gaza. It now seeks to take the rest, including refugee camps and dense civilian areas. Netanyahu's insistence on military action suggests desperation disguised as resolve. The hostage crisis since October 7, 2023 remains a tragedy, but shifting from negotiation to all-out occupation risks killing the very hostages Israel hopes to save. Intelligence indicates that fewer than half are still alive. On the ground, the humanitarian picture is dire: soaring civilian casualties, mounting evidence of famine and collapsing infrastructure. Human rights groups warn that Israel's tactics amount to collective punishment and violate international humanitarian law. The International Court of Justice has already cautioned Israel against actions that could amount to genocide. Yet Netanyahu's government presses ahead on a trajectory that shreds any semblance of a two-state solution. No credible plan exists for Gaza's post-war governance. Regional powers are uneasy. Egypt and Jordan have refused to absorb refugees. Saudi Arabia has put normalisation with Israel on hold, pending progress towards Palestinian statehood.
