The Islamic Republic Has Taken Iran Hostage
Bartle Bull's piece 'Iran's Mediocre Supreme Leader' (Houses of Worship, June 20) captures the slick phoniness of Ali Khamenei. He is an avatar of the entire Islamic Republic, which is a farce from top to bottom.
The regime presents itself as the guardian of Iran while plundering its oil for an insular few and neglecting to provide basic water infrastructure to the rest. Rather than invest the nation's wealth in its citizens, the mullahs have wasted billions on a nuclear-weapons program. It despises the civilization it claims to lead. For nearly half a century the ruling class has tried to erase the cultural, intellectual and moral foundations of Iran and replace them with imperial ideas about jihadist conquests from Najaf to Karbala. In its fanaticism, the regime even cracks down on the annual celebration of one of Persia's greatest figures, Cyrus II, calling the event a 'Zionist plot.'
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CNN
an hour ago
- CNN
Analysis: Final battle damage assessment of US strikes on Iran will be key in US push for Iran nuclear deal
As the Trump administration looks to quickly pivot from military strikes to a diplomatic deal on Iran's nuclear program, the final military and intelligence assessment on the recent US strikes will be critical in informing what the Trump administration needs to accomplish in future Iran negotiations. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff will need to use that final battle damage assessment – including a detailed summary of the facilities' damage and the locale of the nuclear material – to help formulate the US strategy for diplomatic efforts to completely halt the regime's ability to develop a nuclear weapon in the future, current and former US officials explained. 'You're not going to the negotiation assuming that the other side is going to tell you everything you need to know about the state of their program,' explained Pranay Vaddi, a former senior official for nonproliferation at the National Security Council. 'We need to have a baseline that is established by the US intelligence community before that,' Vaddi added. 'If the Trump administration is committed to some kind of deal still – which it makes statements on – they need to know what they were able to get through military action, compared to what they need to get through the diplomatic process.' President Donald Trump continues to claim that Iran's nuclear program has been 'fully obliterated,' which does not mirror an early assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency, finding that the attack did not destroy the core components of the country's nuclear program. The early assessment has split lawmakers on the effectiveness of the strikes. And Trump's absolutist pronouncements could also complicate Witkoff's job, officials said. Even if the facilities themselves have been badly damaged, it does not mean that the nuclear program itself has been wholly destroyed. Prior to the US strikes, experts and former officials had expressed skepticism about the idea that the nuclear program could be militarily destroyed, noting that there would still be people with the knowledge to support it. 'The basic problem is that the equivalency between the success of the bombing and the success of ending the nuclear program is putting pressure on having this narrative that there isn't a threat,' said Beth Sanner, former deputy director for national intelligence. 'If you think that you've eliminated the nuclear program then you are not dealing with the fact that there is some residual of that program.' And while the final battle damage assessment will be important to take into account, future negotiations with Iran should prioritize getting the UN's nuclear watchdog back on the ground in Iran, said former officials who worked on previous Iran negotiations. 'I don't know that there will be any assessment that I think is fully viable until there are inspectors on the ground,' said a former senior US official who worked on past Iran negotiations. 'We must recreate the kind of intrusive verification and monitoring that was in the 2015 deal.' The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had a presence in Iran before the 2015 nuclear deal signed during the Obama administration – a deal which Trump pulled the US out of during his first term – but the presence of IAEA inspectors in the country drastically increased as a result of that deal. 'The deal meant there were inspectors on the ground 24/7, there was electronic monitoring, there was a process by which – that didn't exist anywhere else in the world – that if there was intelligence about a suspected site, if Iran, over a period of some days, couldn't satisfy the IAEA that there was a reason the IAEA could go and inspect,' the official explained, citing some benefits of the IAEA inspection efforts. But this week the Iranian parliament this week suspended its work with the IAEA, because of the 'regrettable role' played by the agency's chief Rafael Grossi, Iran's foreign minister said. Iran accused Grossi of facilitating the US and Israeli strikes in Iran, citing an IAEA report a day prior to the Israeli strike, which declared Iran was violating its nuclear non-proliferation obligations. This move follows years of Iran making moves to restrict the agency's oversight of it's program. For example, in 2022 Iran responded by removing surveillance cameras from key sites after IAEA censured Iran over uranium particles found at the undeclared sites. The steps that would need to be taken as part of any verifiable deal on Iran's nuclear program would likely include: destroying elements of the program that still exist, monitoring any further activity, blending highly enriched uranium, and declaring parts of the program that are in use. In order to prepare to take those steps, inspectors on the ground would be essential, former officials pressed. 'I think it's been a long time since the US intelligence assessments have been accepted globally as authoritative when it comes to Iran's nuclear program. They would certainly be challenged by Iran. In order to have a successful negotiation everybody needs to at least agree on the source of facts,' said Laura Holgate, the former US Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna. 'The IAEA will be needed to develop a new baseline of what exactly Iran has, where it is, and what its condition is in, and that's going to take time, and it will be based on Iran's cooperation,' Holgate added. With the IAEA access being diminished over the years and virtually nonexistent at this moment, the world now has large gaps in its knowledge of Iran's nuclear inventory. That is particularly true when it comes to the locale of Iran's enriched uranium. Trump administration officials have said in recent days that the stockpile was not moved ahead of the US strikes but the IAEA said Iran may have moved some of the enriched uranium out of the sites before they were attacked. Vice President JD Vance said the day after the strikes that working on what to do about that fuel would be a priority for the US. 'We're going to work in the coming weeks to ensure that we do something with that fuel. And that's one of the things that we're going to have conversations with the Iranians about,' Vance said. Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, cited the importance of having 'a full accounting' following an all-member classified briefing on Capitol Hill earlier this week. 'There is enriched uranium in the facilities that moves around, but that was not the intent or the mission,' McCaul said. 'We need a full accounting. That's why Iran has to come to the table directly with us, so the IAEA can account for every ounce of enriched uranium that's there, I don't think it's going out of the country, I think it's at the facilities.' The final US military 'battle damage assessment could take days or even weeks to complete,' multiple sources familiar with the Pentagon's process told CNN. CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday said the agency underscored that a broad intelligence community effort is ongoing to determine the impact of the US strikes on three of the country's nuclear sites on Saturday. The Trump administration was already working on possible terms to offer Iran to bring them back to the able for nuclear deal talks before the US military strikes occurred. But if they are able to pull Iran back to the table, they will have to then enter into much more technical talks to put a legitimate and verifiable deal into place. 'I think that you want to strike while the iron is hot, to try and get them to the table while they're feeling weak,' Sanner said. 'One of the key requirements for the negotiation is setting mechanisms for cataloging Iran's residual capabilities in order to have that conversation and ultimately a deal that is worth the paper it is written on.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Iran holds state funeral for military leaders killed in Israel conflict
A state funeral is taking place in Iran for about 60 people, including military commanders and nuclear scientists, killed during the 12-day conflict with Israel. Coffins draped in the Iranian flag, bearing portraits of deceased commanders, were flanked by crowds near Tehran's Enghelab Square. The conflict ended with a ceasefire earlier this week, after the US became directly involved by bombing key nuclear sites in Iran. Huge crowds of mourners dressed in black chanted slogans, waved Iranian flags and held portraits of those killed. Ahead of the event, a media campaign urged people to participate, with authorities providing free bus and metro rides. Government offices were shut for the day. Among those being laid to rest is Mohammad Bagheri, the highest-ranking military officer in Iran who was chief of staff of Iran's armed forces. Bagheri will be buried with his wife and daughter, who were killed in an Israeli strike. In total, Iranian authorities said 627 people were killed in Iran. Israeli officials said 28 people were killed in Israel following missile attacks by Iran. Saturday's funeral also includes Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, as well as a number of nuclear scientists such as Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, who was head of Azad University in Tehran. It comes after US President Donald Trump said he would "absolutely" consider bombing Iran again. Responding to a question from the BBC's Nomia Iqbal at a White House press briefing on Friday, he said he would "without question" attack the country if intelligence concluded Iran could enrich uranium to concerning levels. Trump has also repeated his assertions that Iran was "decimated", writing: "Why would the so-called 'Supreme Leader' Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, of the war-torn country of Iran, say so blatantly and foolishly that he won the war with Israel, when he knows his statement is a lie." Trump also claimed to have known "exactly where he [Khamenei] was sheltered", saying he "would not let Israel, or the US Armed Forces... terminate his life". "I saved him from a very ugly and ignominious death, and he does not have to say, 'thank-you, president Trump!'", Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, warned Trump against making "disrespectful" comments about Khamenei, who claimed US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites had achieved "nothing significant". "If President Trump is genuine about wanting a deal, he should put aside the disrespectful and unacceptable tone towards Iran's Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Khamenei," Araghchi posted on X. "The Great and Powerful Iranian People, who showed the world that the Israeli regime had no choice but to run to 'Daddy' to avoid being flattened by our Missiles, do not take kindly to Threats and Insults." Araghchi has admitted that "excessive and serious" damage was done to Iran's nuclear sites by the recent bombings. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said it is still not known how much of Iran's nuclear capabilities - including highly-enriched uranium and the centrifuges needed to purify the metal - have been destroyed or moved. The agency's director general Rafael Grossi also said that stopping Iran from being able to build nuclear weapons would not be achieved through military attacks. "You are not going to solve this in a definitive way militarily, you are going to have an agreement," he told the BBC's US partner CBS News. On social media, Trump claimed that in recent days he had been "working on the possible removal of sanctions, and other things, which would have given a much better chance to Iran at a full, fast, and complete recovery". But he said Khamenei's comments had deterred him, declaring: "Instead I get hit with a statement of anger, hatred, and disgust, and immediately dropped all work on sanction relief, and more." Tehran is coming back to life, but its residents are deeply shaken Who were the Iranian commanders killed in Israel's attack? Iran carries out wave of arrests and executions in wake of Israel conflict
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
After Israeli Attacks, Iran Hunts Enemies From Within
Ever since Israel's attack, the Iranian authorities have asked citizens to alert them to anyone carrying bags, wearing sunglasses at night or even donning hats — an uncommon accessory in Iran. They have urged the public to report stolen license plates, pickup trucks with covered beds, or vans traveling at odd hours. All of these, they warn, could be the telltale signs of enemies operating from within. Reeling from the scope and scale of the Israeli strikes this month, Iran is conducting an intensive manhunt for suspected infiltrators and spies, and enlisting the public in the campaign. As authorities have swept up hundreds of people, the government has sped up trials and executions of alleged spies, and fast-tracked a law to broaden the use of the death penalty for anyone convicted of espionage. Given the scale of the arrest campaign even after this past week's cease-fire, some in Iran fear this could become another crackdown on political opponents by a government with a long history of repressing dissent. 'Like a wounded animal, the Islamic Republic is going after every perceived threat in the country with deadly force,' Hadi Ghaemi, the director for the Center for Human Rights in Iran, said in a statement on Thursday. Iranian officials are not simply paranoid. Israel has a history of successfully infiltrating Iran to gather intelligence and carry out assassinations and sabotage. Officials on both sides say that in the recent war, Israel flaunted its ability to build networks and launch widespread attacks from within Iran. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
