Latest news with #ParisaHafezi
Ya Libnan
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
Israeli strikes gutted Iran's leadership. Will a regime change follow?
Rescuers work at the site of a damaged building, in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 13, 2025. Iranian Red Crescent Society/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi Israel has gutted Iran's nuclear and military leadership with airstrikes that leave a weakened Tehran with few options to retaliate, including an all-out war that it is neither equipped for nor likely to win, four regional officials said. The overnight strikes by Israel – repeated for second night on Friday – have ratcheted up the confrontation between the arch foes to an unprecedented level after years of war in the shadows, which burst into the open when Iran's ally Hamas attacked Israel in 2023. Regional security sources said it was unlikely that Tehran could respond with similarly effective strikes because its missile capabilities and military network in the region have been severely degraded by Israel since the Hamas attacks that triggered the Gaza war. State news agency IRNA said that Iran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel on Friday in retaliation. But the Israeli military said the missiles numbered fewer than 100 and most were intercepted or fell short. No casualties were immediately reported. The regional security sources said Iran's leaders, humiliated and increasingly preoccupied with their own survival, cannot afford to appear weak in the face of Israeli military pressure, raising the prospect of further escalation – including covert attacks on Israel or even the perilous option of seeking to build a nuclear bomb rapidly. 'They can't survive if they surrender,' said Mohanad Hage Ali at the Carnegie Middle East Center, a think tank in Beirut. 'They need to strike hard against Israel but their options are limited. I think their next option is withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.' Withdrawing from the NPT would be a serious escalation as it would signal Iran is accelerating its enrichment program to produce weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, experts said. Iran's leadership has not confirmed whether it would attend a sixth round of deadlocked talks with the United States over its nuclear program scheduled for Sunday in Oman. Tehran's regional sway has been weakened by Israel's attacks on its proxies – from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq – as well as by the ousting of Iran's close ally, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Western sanctions have also hit Iran's crucial oil exports and the economy is reeling from a string of crises including a collapsing currency and rampant inflation, as well as energy and water shortages. 'They can't retaliate through anyone. The Israelis are dismantling the Iranian empire piece by piece, bit by bit … and now they've started sowing internal doubt about (the invincibility of) the regime,' said Sarkis Naoum, a regional expert. 'This is massive hit.' Israel strikes targeting key facilities in Tehran and other cities continued into the night on Friday. The Iranian foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was defiant on Friday, saying Israel had initiated a war and would suffer 'a bitter fate'. THE NUCLEAR OPTION Abdelaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center think-tank, said Iran has been backed into a corner with limited options. One possibility would be to offer assurances – in private – that it will abandon uranium enrichment and dismantle its nuclear capabilities, since any public declaration of such a capitulation would likely provoke a fierce domestic backlash. He said another option could involve a return to clandestine warfare, reminiscent of the 1980s bombings targeting U.S. and Israeli embassies and military installations. A third, and far more perilous option, would be to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accelerate its uranium enrichment program Such a move, al-Sager warned, would be tantamount to a declaration of war and would almost certainly provoke a strong international response – not only from Israel, but also from the United States and other Western powers. Trump has threatened military action to ensure Iran doesn't obtain an atomic weapon. He reiterated his position on Thursday, saying: 'Iran must completely give up hopes of obtaining a nuclear weapon.' Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% it would need for nuclear weapons. It has enough material at that level, if processed further, for nine nuclear bombs, according to a U.N. nuclear watchdog yardstick. Israel's strikes overnight on Thursday targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, military commanders and nuclear scientists. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. At least 20 senior commanders were killed, two regional sources said. The armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards Chief Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh and Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani were among them. 'It's a big attack: big names, big leaders, big damage to the Iranian military leadership and its ballistic missiles. It's unprecedented,' said Carnegie's Hage Ali. Sima Shine, a former chief Mossad analyst and now a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said Israel would probably not be able to take out Iran's nuclear project completely without U.S. help. 'Therefore, if the U.S. will not be part of the war, I assume that some parts of (Iran's) nuclear project will remain,' she told reporters on Friday. SHAKEN TO THE CORE Friday's strikes have not only inflicted strategic damage but have also shaken Iran's leadership to the core, according to a senior regional official close to the Iranian establishment. Defiance has transformed into concern and uncertainty within the ruling elite and, behind closed doors, anxiety is mounting, not just over the external threats but also their eroding grip on power at home, the official said. 'Panic has surged among the leadership,' the senior regional official said. 'Beyond the threat of further attacks, a deeper fear looms large: domestic unrest.' A moderate former Iranian official said the assassination in 2020 of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, on the orders of President Donald Trump, started the rot. Since then, the Islamic Republic has struggled to reassert its influence across the region and has never fully recovered. 'This attack might be the beginning of the end,' he said. If protests erupt, and the leadership responds with repression, it will only backfire, the former official said, noting that public anger has been simmering for years, fuelled by sanctions, inflation and an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. In his video address shortly after the attacks started, Netanyahu suggested he would like to see regime change in Iran and sent a message to Iranians. 'Our fight is not with you, our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe the day of your liberation is near,' he said. The hope for regime change could explain why Israel went after so many senior military figures, throwing the Iranian security establishment into a state of confusion and chaos. 'These people were very vital, very knowledgeable, many years in their jobs, and they were a very important component of the stability of the regime, specifically the security stability of the regime,' said Shine. Iranian state media reported that at least two nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in Israeli strikes in Tehran. EMPIRE IN DECLINE Iran's most powerful proxy in the region, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, is also in a weak position to respond. In the days leading up to the strikes on Iran, security sources close to Hezbollah told Reuters the group would not join any retaliatory action by Iran out of fear such a response could unleash a new Israeli blitz on Lebanon. Israel's war last year against Hezbollah left the group badly weakened, with its leadership decimated, thousands of its fighters killed and swathes of its strongholds in southern Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs destroyed. A direct war between Israel and Iran could swiftly expand to Gulf states whose airspace lies between the two enemies, and which host several U.S. military bases. Gulf monarchies allied with Washington issued internal directives to avoid any provocative statements following the attacks that might anger Iran, one official Gulf source told Reuters. Analysts said Trump could leverage the fallout from the Israeli strikes to bring Iran back to the nuclear negotiating table – but this time more isolated, and more likely to offer deeper concessions. 'One thing is clear: the Iranian empire is in decline,' said regional expert Naoum. 'Can they still set the terms of their decline? Not through military terms. There's only one way to do that: through negotiations.' Reuters
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israel, Iran launch more barrages as Israel aims to wipe out Tehran's nuclear program
By Alexander Cornwell, Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland TEL AVIV/DUBAI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Iran and Israel targeted each other with airstrikes early on Saturday after Israel launched its biggest-ever offensive against its longtime foe in a bid to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon. Air raid sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the country's two largest cities before dawn, sending residents rushing into shelters. The military said its air defence systems were operating, seeking to intercept Iranian missiles. "In the last hour, dozens of missiles have been launched at the state of Israel from Iran, some of which were intercepted," the Israeli military said. It said rescue teams were operating at a number of locations across the country where fallen projectiles were reported, without commenting on casualties. Several explosions were heard in the Iranian capital Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported. Israeli media said a suspected missile came down in Tel Aviv, and a Reuters witness heard a loud boom in Jerusalem. It was unclear whether Iranian strikes or Israeli defensive measures were behind the activity. Iran's Fars news agency said Tehran launched a third wave of airstrikes on Saturday after two salvos on Friday night. Those were in response to Israel's attacks on Iran early on Friday against commanders, nuclear scientists, military targets and nuclear sites. Israel's ambulance service said 34 people were injured on Friday night in the Tel Aviv area, most with minor injuries. Police later said one person had died. The U.S. military helped shoot down Iranian missiles headed for Israel on Friday, two U.S. officials said. Israel's military said Iran fired fewer than 100 missiles on Friday and that most were intercepted or fell short. Several buildings in and around Tel Aviv were hit. The Israeli strikes on Iran throughout the day and the Iranian retaliation raised fears of a broader regional conflagration, although Iran's allies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been decimated by Israel. TRUMP SAYS: NOT TOO LATE Iran's state news agency IRNA said Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel after Israel blasted Iran's huge Natanz underground nuclear site and killed its top military commanders. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. Israeli officials said it may be some time before the extent of damage at Natanz was clear. Western countries have long accused Iran of refining uranium there to levels suitable for a bomb rather than civilian use. The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz has been destroyed, U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council on Friday. He said the U.N. was still gathering information about Israeli attacks on two other facilities, the Fordow fuel enrichment plant and at Isfahan. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Israel of starting a war. A senior Iranian official said nowhere in Israel would be safe and revenge would be painful. Iran's U.N. envoy Amir Saeid Iravani said 78 people, including senior military officials, were killed in Israel's strikes on Iran and more than 320 people were wounded, most of them civilians. He accused the U.S. of being complicit in the attacks and said it shared full responsibility for the consequences. Israel's U.N. envoy Danny Danon said intelligence had confirmed that within days Iran would have produced enough fissile material for multiple bombs. He called Israel's operation "an act of national preservation." Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only. The U.N. nuclear watchdog concluded this week that it was in violation of its obligations under the global non-proliferation treaty. U.S. President Donald Trump said it was not too late for Tehran to halt the Israeli bombing campaign by reaching a deal on its nuclear programme. Tehran had been engaged in talks with the Trump administration on a deal to curb its nuclear programme to replace one that Trump abandoned in 2018. Tehran rejected the last U.S. offer.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Israeli strikes back Iran's leadership into a corner
By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) -Israel has gutted Iran's nuclear and military leadership in one blow, leaving Tehran with few options to retaliate including an all-out war that it is neither equipped for nor likely to win, four regional officials said. The widescale overnight strikes have ratcheted up the direct confrontation between the arch foes to an unprecedented level following years of war in the shadows that burst into the open when Iran's ally Hamas attacked Israel in 2023. Regional security sources said Tehran was unlikely to respond in kind because its missile capabilities and influence in the region outside Iran have been severely degraded by Israel since the Hamas attacks that triggered the Gaza war. But they said Iran's leaders, humiliated and increasingly preoccupied with their own survival, cannot afford to appear weak by caving to Israeli military pressure, raising the prospect of further escalation - including even the perilous option of seeking to rapidly build a nuclear bomb. "They can't survive if they surrender," said Mohanad Hage Ali at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "They need to strike hard against Israel but their (military) options are limited. I think their next option is withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)." Withdrawing from the NPT would be a serious escalation as it would be signal Iran is accelerating its enrichment programme to produce weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear bomb, experts said. Tehran's regional sway has been weakened by Israel's attacks on its proxies, from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq, as well as by the ousting of Iran's close ally, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Western sanctions have hit Iran's crucial oil exports and the economy is reeling from a string of crises including a collapsing currency, rampant inflation along with energy and water shortages. The Iranian leadership's initial response though was muted. They did not confirm whether they would attend the sixth round of deadlocked talks with the United States over its nuclear programme scheduled for Sunday in Oman. "They can't retaliate through anyone. The Israelis are dismantling the Iranian empire piece by piece, bit by bit ... and now they've started sowing internal doubt (about the invincibility) of the regime," said Sarkis Naoum, a regional expert. "This is massive hit." Israel strikes targeting key facilities in Tehran and other cities continued into the night on Friday. The Iranian foreign ministry did respond to requests for comment. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was defiant earlier on Friday, saying Israel had "unleashed its wicked and bloody" hand, and would suffer "a bitter fate". THE NUCLEAR OPTION Abdelaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center think-tank, said Iran has been backed into a corner with limited options. One possibility would be to offer assurances - in private - that it will abandon uranium enrichment and dismantle its nuclear capabilities, since any public declaration of such a capitulation would likely provoke a fierce domestic backlash. He said another option could involve a return to clandestine warfare, reminiscent of the 1980s bombings targeting U.S. and Israeli embassies and military installations. A third, and far more perilous option, would be to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and accelerate its uranium enrichment programme. Such a move, al-Sager warned, would be tantamount to a declaration of war and would almost certainly provoke a strong international response - not only from Israel, but also from the United States and other Western powers. Trump has threatened military action to ensure Iran doesn't obtain an atomic weapon. He reiterated his position on Thursday, saying: "Iran must completely give up hopes of obtaining a nuclear weapon." Iran is currently enriching uranium up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% it would need for nuclear weapons. It has enough material at that level, if processed further, for nine nuclear bombs, according to a U.N. nuclear watchdog yardstick. Israel's strikes overnight on Friday targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories, military commanders and nuclear scientists. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was the start of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon. At least 20 senior commanders were killed, two regional sources said. The armed forces chief of staff, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards Chief Hossein Salami, and the head of the Revolutionary Guards Aerospace Force, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were among them. "It's a big attack: big names, big leaders, big damage to the Iranian military leadership and its ballistic missiles. It's unprecedented," said Carnegie's Hage Ali. Sima Shine, a former chief Mossad analyst and now a researcher at Israel's Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), said Israel would probably not be able to take out Iran's nuclear project completely without U.S. help. "Therefore, if the U.S. will not be part of the war, I assume that some parts of (Iran's) nuclear project will remain," she told reporters on Friday. SHAKEN TO THE CORE Friday's strikes have not only inflicted strategic damage but have also shaken Iran's leadership to the core, according to a senior regional official close to the Iranian establishment. Defiance has transformed into concern and uncertainty within the ruling elite and, behind closed doors, anxiety is mounting, not just over the external threats but also their eroding grip on power at home, the official said. "Panic has surged among the leadership," the senior regional official said. "Beyond the threat of further attacks, a deeper fear looms large: domestic unrest." A moderate former Iranian official said the assassination in 2020 of General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the overseas arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, on the orders of President Donald Trump, started the rot. Since then, the Islamic Republic has struggled to reassert its influence across the region and has never fully recovered. "This attack might be the beginning of the end," he said. If protests erupt, and the leadership responds with repression, it will only backfire, the former official said, noting that public anger has been simmering for years, fuelled by sanctions, inflation and an unrelenting crackdown on dissent. In his video address shortly after the attacks started, Netanyahu suggested he would like to see regime change in Iran and sent a message to Iranians. "Our fight is not with you, our fight is with the brutal dictatorship that has oppressed you for 46 years. I believe the day of your liberation is near," he said. The hope for regime change could explain why Israel went after so many senior military figures, throwing the Iranian security establishment into a state of confusion and chaos. "These people that were very vital, very knowledgeable, many years in their jobs, and they were a very important component of the stability of the regime, specifically the security stability of the regime," said Shine. Iranian state media reported that at least two nuclear scientists, Fereydoun Abbasi and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, were killed in Israeli strikes in Tehran. EMPIRE IN DECLINE Iran's most powerful proxy in the region, Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, is also in a weak position to respond. In the days leading up to the strikes on Iran, security sources close to Hezbollah told Reuters the group would not join any retaliatory action by Iran out of fear such a response could unleash a new Israeli blitz on Lebanon. Israel's war last year against Hezbollah left the group badly weakened, with its leadership decimated, thousands of its fighters killed and swathes of its strongholds in southern Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs destroyed. A direct war between Israel and Iran could swiftly expand to Gulf states whose airspace lies between the two enemies, and which host several U.S. military bases. Gulf monarchies allied with Washington issued internal directives to avoid any provocative statements following the attacks that might anger Iran, one official Gulf source told Reuters. Analysts said Trump could leverage the fallout from the Israeli strikes to bring Iran back to the nuclear negotiating table - but this time more isolated, and more likely to offer deeper concessions. "One thing is clear: the Iranian empire is in decline," said regional expert Naoum. "Can they still set the terms of their decline? Not through military terms. There's only one way to do that: through negotiations." (Reporting and writing by Samia Nakhoul in Dubai; Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi and Maha el Dahan in Dubai, and Laila Bassam and Maya Gebeily in Beirut; Editing by David Clarke)
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Angry and afraid, Iranians brace for more Israeli attacks
By Parisa Hafezi DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranians reacted to Israeli strikes with anger and fear on Friday, with some urging retaliation while others worried the conflict would spell more hardship for a nation worn down by crises. With Tehran and other cities shaken by a night of Israeli airstrikes, some said they planned to leave for neighbouring Turkey, bracing for escalation after Israel signalled its operation would continue "for as many days as it takes". "I woke up to deafening explosion. People on my street rushed out of their homes in panic, we were all terrified," said Marziyeh, 39, from the city of Natanz, which is home to one of Iran's nuclear sites and where explosions were reported. "I am deeply worried about my children's safety if this situation escalates," said Marziyeh, one of 20 people Reuters contacted in Iran for this article. Israel said it had attacked nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders in the operation it said aimed to prevent Tehran from building an atomic bomb. Iran says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes. In an initial wave of panic, some Iranians rushed to banks to withdraw cash on Friday morning. Masoud Mousavi, 51, a retired bank employee said he waited for the exchange offices to open, "so I can buy Turkish Lira and take my family there by land since airspace is closed". "I am against any war. Any strike that kills innocent people. I will stay in Turkey with my family until this situation is over," he said from Shiraz city. Iranians have become accustomed to turmoil since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which ousted the U.S.-backed Shah and brought the clerical establishment to power, from the 1980s war with Iraq, to heavy crack-downs on anti-government protests and years of biting Western sanctions. Some opponents of Iran's ruling clerics expressed hope that Israel's attack might lead to their downfall, though one Tehran resident said he supported Iranian retaliation, even though he was not a supporter of the Islamic Republic. "We can't afford not to respond. Either we surrender and they take our missiles, or we fire them. There's no other option — and if we don't, we'll end up surrendering them anyway,' he said, seething with anger at Israel's attacks. 'I WILL FIGHT AND DIE' Two money changers in Tehran said they were busier than usual, as people rushed to buy foreign currency following the attack. But one of them said people were not too panicked. "We have been through so much already. I don't support Israel's attack and I understand that Iran's leaders feel the need to retaliate," said retired teacher Fariba Besharati, 64, who lives with her children and two grandchildren in Tabriz. "But what about us? Haven't we endured enough suffering?" Many Iranians still believe in Iran's right to a civilian nuclear programme, but some said it was now costing the country too much. "The price we are paying is too high. And now, a military attack, no I don't want more misery," said Mohammadreza, 29, a teacher in the northern city of Chalus. Economic hardship and political and social restrictions have fuelled protests against the clerical rulers in recent years, notably in 2022, when a young woman died in police custody after being arrested for allegedly flouting conservative dress codes. Witnesses in several cities, including Tehran, said that plainclothes agents and police forces had deployed in the streets on Friday. Iran's rulers are facing myriad other crises, from energy and water shortages, to a collapsing currency and growing public anger over economic hardships, caused largely by U.S. sanctions over its nuclear programme and economic mismanagement. But the clerical leadership still has a tight grip on the country, underpinned by loyal security forces. Ali, whose father was killed during the eight-year Iran-Iraq war, said he was ready to sacrifice his life for the Islamic Republic. "I am a member of (volunteer militia) Basij. I will fight and die for our right to a nuclear programme. Israel and its ally America cannot take it away from us with these attacks," he said from the holy city of Qom by phone. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi: Editing by Tom Perry and Sharon Singleton)
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iran's Khamenei rejects US nuclear demand, vows to keep enriching uranium
By Parisa Hafezi, Elwely Elwelly and Jana Choukeir DUBAI (Reuters) -Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Tehran will not abandon its uranium enrichment, rejecting a key U.S. demand aimed at resolving a decades-long nuclear dispute, that he said was against the Islamic Republic's interests. The U.S. proposal for a new nuclear deal was presented to Iran on Saturday by Oman, which has mediated talks between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff. After five round of talks, several hard-to-bridge issues remain, including Iran's insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and Tehran's refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium - possible raw material for nuclear bombs. "Uranium enrichment is the key to our nuclear programme and the enemies have focused on the enrichment," Khamenei said in a televised speech. The U.S. proposal "contradicts our nation's belief in self-reliance and the principle of 'We Can'," he said. "The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear programme. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have an enrichment?," he added. Tehran says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and has long denied accusations by Western powers that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. On Monday, Reuters reported Tehran was poised to reject the U.S. proposal on the grounds that it was a "non-starter" that failed to soften Washington's stance on uranium enrichment or to address Tehran's interests. Trump has revived his "maximum pressure" campaign against Tehran since his return to the White House in January, which included tightening sanctions and threatening to bomb Iran if the negotiations yield no deal. During his first term in 2018, Trump ditched Tehran's 2015 nuclear pact with six powers and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran's economy. Iran responded by escalating enrichment far beyond the pact's limits. Iran's arch-foe Israel, which sees Iran's nuclear programme as an existential threat, has repeatedly threatened to bomb the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. (Writing by Nayera Abdallah and Parisa Hafezi, Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Andrew Heavens)
