What Israel's targeting of Iranian oil infrastructure means for global energy security
Israel has targeted Iranian energy infrastructure, including the world's largest gas field, South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar. CNN's Becky Anderson speaks with analyst Firas Maksad about how this escalation poses a significant threat to global energy security.
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CNN
27 minutes ago
- CNN
Netanyahu says Israel's operation may lead to regime change in Iran. How likely is that?
Since Israel began its concerted attack on Iran on Friday, calls for regime change in Iran have grown louder – from hawks in the United States Congress to Israeli officials and some Iranian activists abroad. They argue that the Islamic Republic is significantly weakened, and that now is the time to capitalize on domestic unrest and public discontent to bring about the overthrow of its ruling clerical establishment, with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at its head. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Fox News on Sunday that Israel's operation 'could certainly' result in regime change, as the government in Iran is 'very weak.' He claimed that '80% of the people would throw these theological thugs out.' 'They shoot women because their hair is uncovered. They shoot students. They just suck the oxygen out from these brave and gifted people, the Iranian people,' Netanyahu said. 'The decision to act, to rise up this time, is the decision of the Iranian people.' Freedom of speech is heavily restricted in Iran, and there have been no major public calls from within the country to overthrow the regime following Israel's attacks. But experts say Netanyahu may be misreading Iranian public sentiment – and that the strikes could backfire. Israel's attacks are more likely to direct public anger toward Israel, as domestic issues are briefly put aside while Iranians run for shelter, experts say. 'Iranian activists, people who fought for freedom and justice all their lives, first of all know that their value has little to do with people like Netanyahu,' Arash Azizi, an Iran expert based in New York City and author of the book 'What Iranians Want,' told CNN. They recognize Netanyahu's right-wing government 'is not at all aligned with their values.' Iran has in recent years seen nationwide protests against the regime, especially in 2022 and 2023, sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested by Iran's morality police for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. Many activists have since been detained, and authorities have sought repress further protest, instilling fear with a rise in criminal prosecutions and executions. Disgruntlement is widespread. But experts, and Iranians currently living under Israeli bombardment, said that most Iranians don't see Netanyahu or his government as having the solution to their domestic problems. Many of those who spoke to CNN in recent days did not want to be named for safety reasons, and none expressed support for Netanyahu's calls for a revolt. A local Iranian journalist told CNN that while some believe the conflict could be an opportunity for a potential push for regime change, they want to build their future themselves. Others believe that Israeli attacks are not the correct basis for political change, and that such a shift should take place through democratic procedures. Another journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CNN that the perception at home is that the regime isn't weak, and that people are unlikely to protest while their cities are being bombed. 'The people of Iran have fought against the Islamic Republic for years, striving for democracy and freedom,' the journalist said from Tehran. 'But I believe that in the current situation, those who are terrified under missiles and explosions, trying to protect their children and loved ones, do not have the psychological or practical capacity to 'take to the streets.' The streets, which are constantly under attack, are now emptier than ever.' 'Moreover, from the public's perspective, the Islamic Republic has not yet become weak enough to collapse through protests. Any action against the regime during wartime will lead to brutal repression,' the journalist said, adding that 'now the regime has free rein to label anyone it wants as an Israeli spy.' Others say during a time of national crisis, people are more likely to favor unity, no matter how dissatisfied they are. To them, foreign intervention is a red line. 'There is no support that they will give to Netanyahu's war on themselves and their society. If anything, they are organizing now to help each other defend their country,' Azizi said, referring to anti-regime Iranians. 'Any idea that this will lead to a popular uprising of some sort that will bring down the regime has very little basis in reality.' Even in the diaspora, where many anti-regime Iranians live, there is anger at Israel's actions, with activists calling for unity in the face of Israel's assault. Narges Mohammadi, one of Iran's most prominent human rights activists and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who has spent years in prison in Tehran on what supporters say are politically motivated charges, posted on X: 'Iranian Civil Society Says No to War!' She and other Iranian activists, including fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, all of whom have been pursued by the regime for their activism, wrote a joint opinion piece in France's Le Monde newspaper Monday calling for an end to the war – but they also demanded that Iran stop enrichment of uranium and that the regime step down. 'This conflict not only destroys infrastructure and claims civilian lives but also constitutes a serious threat to the very foundations of human civilization,' they wrote. In recent years, Israel has strengthened ties with Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's deposed monarch. Pahlavi voiced support for Israel's actions, drawing praise from some in the Iranian diaspora and accusations of betrayal from others. 'Soon in Tehran,' Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli posted on X on Friday, along with a picture of himself shaking hands with a smiling Pahlavi. Pahlavi told BBC News on Sunday that Israel's conflict with Iran was an opportunity to bring down the Iranian regime. 'The ultimate solution is regime change,' he said. 'Now, we have an opportunity, because this regime is at its weakest point. There's (a) window in which we can operate and hopefully liberate our country.' His US-backed father had warm ties with Israel before he was overthrown by the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Israel has pounded Iran with strikes for four days, striking residential areas and the country's civilian infrastructure. At least 224 people have been killed in the country since hostilities began Friday, the health ministry said Sunday, according to state media. Israel has said it is doing so to stop the Islamic Republic from acquiring a nuclear weapon and has targeted several of the country's nuclear sites, but civilians appear to have borne the brunt of the attacks. Iran has retaliated by firing 370 ballistic missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said. By Monday morning, 24 people had been killed in Israel and 592 others had been wounded. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that 'the residents of Tehran will pay the price,' later clarifying that Israel didn't intend to harm civilians. Israeli officials 'don't even pretend' to care about the safety of Iranian civilians, said Azizi, the Iran expert. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian called for unity, in a statement released through state media. 'The people of Iran must join hands and stand strong against the aggression that has been launched against us,' Pezeshkian said, adding that the Iranians were 'not the aggressors' and defending Iran's right to a peaceful nuclear program. In its operation, Israel has taken out some of Iran's most senior military officials, including in the powerful Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Even if the leadership changes, it may not look like what Netanyahu hopes for, Iran experts said. 'Regime change is a possibility, just not the kind that Netanyahu has in mind,' Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of the Amwaj news outlet, wrote on X. 'Among potential medium-term outcomes of Israel's war on Iran: military-led administration, possibly armed with nuclear weapons.' Netanyahu's call for regime change by force has also alarmed other countries in the region. Speaking to the Paris-based journal Le Grand Continent, Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, warned that 'when a country feels under attack, nationalism tends to intensify.' Asked about Netanyahu's call for an uprising in Iran, Gargash said: 'The region cannot be reshaped through force and confrontation. We may be able to resolve some problems in the short term, but this will lead to others that are at least as serious.'. Iranians who spoke to CNN said they don't see Israel's actions as helping their country. 'Netanyahu has attacked us, and now he expects us to overthrow Khamenei while we're standing in lines for bread and fuel, worried about our own survival? To topple Khamenei with Israeli missiles?' one of the Iranian journalists who spoke to CNN said. 'Of course, we're glad to see the leaders of this regime - whose hands are stained with the blood of our children - killed. But the death of ordinary people is painful.'
CNN
27 minutes ago
- CNN
‘The situation is far from funny, but you have to keep your sanity': Israeli families endure uncertain nights in cramped bomb shelters
Red alert sirens warning of incoming fire have sent Israelis scrambling to bomb shelters over the last three nights, as Iran and Israel have broadened their deadly attacks on each other. Israeli law demands that all homes and industrial buildings built since the early 1990s have shelters, but for years they were an afterthought, often used as an extra storage room and packed with extraneous belongings. Now, Israeli citizens have had little choice but to ready the tiny rooms for long stays. In central Israel, Rivi Ginzburg laid out two mattresses for her three grandchildren, along with some toys and coloring books. 'We just don't know,' she told CNN, and sighed. 'They always prepare us to be here for an extended period of time, so we stocked up on snacks, water and, more importantly, prepared for the kids.' This feeling of uncertainty – of not knowing what comes next or how this ends – has pervaded families across the country. Israel has vowed to continue its attacks on Iran, while Iran has said its retaliation will not stop. After hours glued to the TV and the latest updates on their cell phones, Ginzburg's family prepared for another night racing between the bedrooms and the bomb shelter. Their unity has blunted the edge of the tensions, if only slightly. 'You can laugh when you're with kids and family at home,' Ginzburg said. 'The situation is far from funny, but you have to keep your sanity, you have to keep your normality with the family.' The bomb shelters have not offered infallible protection. An Iranian ballistic missile hit a family's shelter in Petah Tikva early on Monday morning, killing people inside, according to Lt. Col. Tali Versano Eisman, a representative of Israel's Homefront Command. 'There was a direct hit there on the wall of the bomb shelter,' said Eisman. '(In) the bomb shelter above and the bomb shelter below, the people came out without injury. Still, the bomb shelter is the best and safest place to be.' In an apartment building in Rehovot, Mor Moria Shipony has tried to hide the stress from her three children. 'There's no escape, nowhere to go,' she told CNN. When sirens force the residents into the aging shelter, Shipony grabs what has become her survival bag, filled with chargers, water and snacks, and leads the family downstairs. Packed with 30 people, she says the shelter quickly grows hot and cramped. 'The children are asking when all of this would end, and I just don't have the answers,' Shipony said. 'It's frustrating. I can't assure them that everything will be fine. There's nothing I can do except for waking them up in the middle of the night and take them down to the shelter.' Shipony has tried to explain to her family the existential threat Israel sees in Iran, but told CNN that has been difficult. 'It's very hard not to bring our own political views into this, having a prime minister attempting to survive politically,' she said. 'It's hard to answer all of that, and often (the children) would ask questions which we just don't have the answer to – so we simply tell them that we'll all do the best we can.' Noy Bitan, a student at Hebrew University, left her apartment in Jerusalem for her parents' home in Ashdod, a coastal city about 20 miles north of Gaza. Her apartment has no shelter, so she has to run for cover to reach the shared shelter that connects her parents' house to the neighbors. The shelter – which she says is 'just a few square meters in size' – has to fit 10 people with room for only four chairs. Whoever is holding a child gets a seat, Bitan said. 'Everyone tries to keep calm,' Bitan added, 'and usually we manage.'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
What we know about the Minnesota shooting suspect
The man accused of shooting Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota on Saturday while impersonating a police officer worked for a security company that advertised a fleet of 'police type vehicles,' and other equipment that could potentially have aided him in appearing to be law enforcement. Vance Boelter was also an outspoken evangelical Christian who traveled to Africa to tell his faith story and, in at least one sermon, pointedly questioned American morals on sexual orientation, according to videos and social media posts reviewed by CNN. Boelter was a conservative who was strongly against abortion rights, a longtime friend told CNN on Saturday. But Boelter never mentioned any particular anger with the lawmakers who were shot, said David Carlson. 'It wasn't the thing that defined him,' he said of his religious and political beliefs. Carlson added, 'He wasn't a hateful person. But he needed help.' Boelter, 57, was arrested Sunday night in the city of Green Isle, Minnesota, where he lived, according to authorities. He's accused of killing one lawmaker and her husband and wounding another and his wife early Saturday. Officials said he left behind an apparent hit list with dozens of names in his car after exchanging fire with police outside the home of one victim and fleeing the scene. Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said the attack 'appears to be a politically motivated assassination.' State officials said authorities early on Saturday encountered what appeared to be a police vehicle with emergency flashing lights in the driveway of Rep. Melissa Hortman's home. Officers at the home 'saw (Boelter)…dressed as a police officer, shoot an adult man' through the open front door, according to a criminal complaint obtained by the Minnesota Star Tribune. The suspect 'exchanged gunfire' with police and ran into the house, ultimately disappearing from the area, according to the complaint. Hortman – the top Democrat in the Minnesota House – and her husband were both killed. At a nearby home, Minnesota State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot but are in stable condition after surgery. Police said they are still investigating a motive for the attacks. The names on the list, which CNN obtained, are largely Democrats or figures with ties to Planned Parenthood or the abortion rights movement. The list included prominent lawmakers like Rep. Ilhan Omar and Sen. Tina Smith as well as Planned Parenthood leaders. Police said Boelter also had fliers for anti-Trump protests in his car, raising fears that he may also have intended to target those rallies. Boelter largely shied away from political posts in his publicly available social media feeds and did not discuss abortion rights in any religious speeches reviewed by CNN. In one talk he gave in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2023, he appeared sharply critical of LGBTQ rights. 'There's people especially in America, they don't know what sex they are, they don't know their sexual orientation, they're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul,' he said in a sermon at a Pentecostal church in eastern DRC. Carlson said Boelter was recently having financial problems, possibly due to his regular travels to Africa. The security firm had failed to find traction, Carlson said, leaving Boelter scrambling to find work, including at a funeral home. 'Problem is, he quit all his jobs to go down there,' he said. 'And then he comes back and tries to find new jobs. Wasn't working out that good.' Those who knew Boelter from his church work said they were stunned that he was linked to the violence on Saturday. Pastor McNay Nkashama, who said he knew Boelter as a volunteer who preached Christianity, said he was struggling to reconcile the allegations with the man he knew. 'Of all the people I know, he would not hurt a fly,' Nkashama said in a brief telephone interview. 'I just cannot believe it.' Although Boelter lived in the small town of Green Isle about an hour outside Minneapolis, he often crashed in Carlson's rented home in the city. Carlson, 59, spoke with reporters Saturday night in front of the small home after returning from the lumber store to buy plywood for the windows, which had been busted open by a SWAT team earlier in the day. Carlson said he last heard from Boelter around 6:30 pm on Friday night. He said he knocked on Boelter's door, and when Boelter said he was tired, Carlson watched TV and went to bed. He said he awoke around 6:30 am Saturday and soon after he saw a text message from Boelter. It's unclear when the text was sent. Carlson declined to read it to reporters on Saturday night, but Reuters had reported earlier that Boelter told Carlson that he might be dead soon. After seeing the text message, Carlson said, he called the police. 'I thought he would do self-harm; I didn't think he was … ' his voice trailed off. Boelter served on a state board with Hoffman, records show. In 2019, Walz put Boelter on the Governor's Workforce Development Board – a group of business owners who recommend policies to the state government. In a letter, Walz said the post was in recognition of Boelter's 'integrity, judgment, and ability.' According to a spokesperson for the governor, the development board, which has more than 60 members, is one of many external boards and commissions whose members are unpaid and come from 'all parties.' The spokesperson said the governor does not interview applicants to the boards. It's unclear how closely Boelter and Hoffman interacted in that role, if at all. 'We are still exploring that,' Drew Evans, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension superintendent said in a news conference Saturday afternoon about whether Boelter knew the victims directly. 'There's certainly some overlap with some public meetings, I will say, with Sen. Hoffman and the individual, but we don't know the nature of the relationship or if they actually knew each other.' Boelter has worked as director of security patrols for Praetorian Guard Security Services, which provides 'random armed patrols' of customers' properties, according to the company's webpage – which also suggests he could have had access to uniforms and equipment that could aid in impersonating a police officer. The firm was registered to Boelter's home address and listed a woman who is apparently his wife as president and CEO; she did not respond to messages from CNN. The site advertised that the firm had 'police-type vehicles' and noted, 'We drive the same make and model of vehicles that many police departments use in the U.S. Currently we drive Ford Explorer Utility Vehicles.' The firm's website boasted of Boelter having experience in foreign conflict zones. It said that he was 'involved with security situations in Eastern Europe, Africa, North America and the Middle East, including the West Bank, Southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.' Video from outside Hortman's home on Saturday showed law enforcement towing a black Ford Explorer equipped with police lights. Archived photos from a home previously owned by Boelter show a similar vehicle in the driveway. In speeches reviewed by CNN, Boelter described his deep faith and said he was born again into the church as a teenager. 'I met Jesus when I was 17 years old and I gave my life to him,' Boelter told the church in the DRC in February 2023. 'And I just wanted to tell everybody about Jesus.' Records also show that Boelter once launched a Christian nonprofit called Revoformation Ministries. An archived website under that name includes a biography of him, describing Boelter as having traveled extensively to preach Christianity, including in the Middle East, where the site says he had sought out 'militant Islamists in order to share the gospel and tell them that violence wasn't the answer.' That website described Boelter as a reverend and an author, noting that he had written a book that presents a 'different paradigm on the nature of man and our relationship with God.' CNN reviewed numerous videos of Boelter preaching in the DRC from 2021 to 2023. Boelter appears emotional when describing his religious devotion. He also frequently talked about his connection to the DRC and what he perceived as the suffering the country has endured due to decades of internal conflict and meddling of other countries. 'I've been to North and South America, I've been to the Middle East, I've been to Eastern Europe, and I've been in the DRC. I've never been in a country before like the DRC that has had so much taken away. I hear the history, and it hits my heart. So many people, so many countries have taken, taken, taken,' he said in 2022. Boelter said he worked at major food brands such as Nestlé, and was the general manager of a 7-11, according to an online resume. Boelter registered to vote as a Republican in the early 2000s, state records show. Carlson said he was a Trump voter. In a post six years ago on LinkedIn, Boelter encouraged people to vote and wrote, 'I think the election is going to have more of an impact on the direction of our country than probably any election we have been apart of, or will be apart of for years to come.' A state document that listed his 2019 appointment to a development board noted he had 'no party preference.' Boelter's LinkedIn page claims he had a doctorate in educational leadership and a masters of science in management, both from Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, and he used the prefix Dr. on his website and social media. Social media posts also indicate he has multiple children. A search of Minnesota criminal records showed no cases against Boelter aside from some traffic charges. Boelter had a property outside the small town of Green Isle, about 50 miles west of Minneapolis, according to records. A sheriff's deputy was blocking a gravel road leading to the home on Saturday afternoon. In the town's restaurants and bars, no one who spoke to CNN knew Boelter or his family. Carlson said he thought Boelter's recent financial struggles may have pushed him into violence. 'He was looking around, but maybe things didn't work out and he just gave up and decided to go out in the blaze of glory,' he said. 'I have no idea what he was thinking.' This story has been updated with an interview with David Carlson. CNN's Majlie de Puy Kamp and Bob Ortega contributed to this report.
