Musk-Iranian meeting was a terrible idea, Trump's ex-Iran envoy says

The shock exit of President Bashar al-Assad from the country his family has ruled for half a century deprived Iran of one of its oldest and most stalwart allies.

Damascus was a key bridge in a so-called Shi'ite crescent which projected Iran's influence over Iraq and Syria to its armed Lebanese allies Hezbollah.

Iranian, Hezbollah and Iraqi militia forces had been a key bulwark for Assad in his fight against armed rebels which spectacularly faltered in a shock offensive which seized the capital on Sunday after less than a fortnight.

Those foreign units were Assad's top asset, Reuters cited the regional sources as saying, and Iranian military advisors and the militias ran the operational command structure that defended the Syrian state.

Many of the Iranian advisers quit Syria following Israeli air strikes on the capital in the spring and the rest left as the insurgent thrust gained steam last week, Reuters reported citing Iraqi militia commanders.

A source familiar with Hezbollah thinking was cited as saying fighters from the group had mostly left the country in October to confront an Israeli air and ground assault at home.

Alone, the Syrian military lacked a coherent strategy to defend their lines especially around the northwestern city of Aleppo - the country's second largest - which fell rapidly to radical Islamist-led rebels with little fighting.

US sanctions, mismanagement and corruption had taken its toll on the Syrian economy and military for years, undermining morale and willingness to fight.

Many rank-and-file soldiers and officers simply discarded their uniforms and weapons as opposition fighters made gains and melted into the civilian population.

For years before the government's ouster on Wednesday, monitoring groups reported that the Syrian military had been reduced to a militia-style organization focused on repression and was less prepared for a conventional military campaign.

Trump was asked by a reporter from Time - which for the second time named him as the magazine's person of the year - what the chances of a war with Iran might be and citing allegations by US law enforcement that Iran sought to assassinate him.

"Anything can happen. Anything can happen. It's a very volatile situation," Trump replied, then quickly pivoting toward Ukraine and criticizing a decision by the Joe Biden administration to allow Ukraine to fire US long range missiles into Russia.

Trump lamented Biden policies he said have enriched and emboldened Iran and its armed allies in the region, again saying he would have kept them in check.

"We have some tremendous world problems that we didn't have when I was president. You know, when I left, we had, we had an Iran that was not very threatening. They had no money. They weren't giving money to Hamas. They weren't giving money to Hezbollah."

Trump's pick for national security advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday credited Israel with weakening Iran by defeating its armed allies - "taking down the tentacles of the (Iranian) octopus" - but the incoming 47th president was appeared more circumspect.

"I don’t trust anybody," he said, when asked if he trusted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Asked about a meeting between world's richest man turned Trump superfan Elon Musk and Iranian diplomats in New York last month which was reported by US media outlets, the president-elect said he had no knowledge of it.

"I don't know that he met with them ... I don't know. He didn't tell me that."

Trump had said on election day November 5 that he wished Iran no harm but that Tehran cannot have nuclear weapons.

“My terms are very easy ... (Iran) can't have nuclear weapons," Trump said. "I’d like them to be a very successful country,” he added, but declined to detail specific plans for US-Iran relations.

Trump has repeatedly expressed his desire to resolve US enmity with Iran through diplomacy and in a pre-election interview appeared to rule out seeking regime change there, saying: “We can't get totally involved in all that. We can't run ourselves".

But Trump in his first term withdrew the United States from an international deal over Iran's nuclear program, saying the Barack Obama-era agreement allowed Iran to shore up its finances and step up aid to armed allies in the Mideast.

His order to assassinate top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in 2020 earned him the lasting ire of Iran's rulers, who according to US law enforcement have been seeking to assassinate Trump and key aides in retaliation.

"We have to give credit where credit's due, and that's Bibi Netanyahu in Israel," President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News on Wednesday, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister.

"(Israel has) taken down the tentacles of the octopus, so to speak: Hamas, Hezbollah, some of the militias in in Syria. Iran has been so weakened that it made Assad so weak that clearly the HTS, Turkey and others saw opportunity," he added, referring to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham radical Islamist group leading the Syrian rebels.

Waltz lamented the extension last month of a US sanctions waiver for Iran's transfer of electricity to neighboring Iraq, but did not explicitly commit to ending the policy beyond saying Iraq needed to wean itself off its neighbor's supplies.

The Trump administration will work to put greater strain on Iran's economy through sanctions, Waltz added, and would revive the so-called maximum pressure campaign imposed during Trump's first term.

"You're going to see a huge shift on Iran. We have to constrain their cash. We have to constrain their oil. We have to go back to maximum pressure ... which was working under the first Trump administration."

Channeling comments by Trump on the campaign trail, Waltz said the new administration would stop short of any military adventure to unseat Iran's rulers.

"I think the President has been crystal clear on, and his mandate from the voters was to do everything he can to avoid us getting drug into more Middle East wars."

The judiciary announced on Thursday that the concert, streamed live on YouTube from a historic arched caravanserai, "lacked any legal authorization and did not comply with the country’s legal and cultural standards."

Officials added that a case has been filed against Parastoo Ahmadi and her production team.

The Caravanserai Concert, held on Wednesday night, quickly became one of the most discussed topics on Iranian social media.

Despite YouTube being restricted in Iran, the performance attracted over 150,000 views within 18 hours, with clips widely shared online.

Ahmadi, in her introduction, described the concert as hypothetical, saying, “I am Parastoo; a girl who wants to sing for the people she loves... this is a right I could not forsake.”

Ahmadi was born in 1997 in Nowshahr in northern Iran. She is a graduate in directing from Sooreh University and spent years playing the piano and doing song covers which she shared on her Instagram page.

Iranian law prohibits women from singing solo or appearing in public without a hijab. Ahmadi’s performance, in which she bared her shoulders, challenged these long-standing restrictions.

Her earlier acts of defiance, including a rendition of Az Khoon-e Javanan-e Vatan (“From the Blood of the Youth of the Nation”) during 2022 nationwide anti-veil protests, had already brought her into conflict with authorities. Following that performance, she was summoned by security officials and her home was searched.

Artistic defiance has become a hallmark of Iran’s protest movements, with musicians such as Shervin Hajipour, Saman Yasin, and Toomaj Salehi facing arrest for their roles in mobilizing dissent. Ahmadi’s concert continues this tradition, positioning her as both an artist and an activist in a country where such roles carry significant risks.

The judiciary’s swift action shows the government’s determination to curb what it sees as cultural transgressions, even as social media amplifies these acts of resistance to global audiences.

The statement, issued Wednesday, emphasized the importance of controlling narratives during what it described as “sensitive internal and regional conditions.”

“Media and online activists in the country should refrain from addressing topics that disrupt the psychological security of society and frighten the public about the situation,” it added.

This announcement follows remarks by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who characterized public discussions about Iran’s weakening position after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria as criminal acts.

“Some do this abroad through Persian-language media, and they must be dealt with differently, but no one inside the country should do this. If someone, in their analysis or statements, speaks in a way that discourages the people, it is a crime and must be addressed,” Khamenei said during his first speech after Assad’s collapse on Wednesday.

This speech by Khamenei, unlike the usual practice of recent years, was not broadcast live on state TV per his office's decision.

Criticism of Iran’s costly support for Assad has surged in recent days, with former officials and commentators questioning the billions spent and thousands of lives lost during Tehran’s involvement in Syria.

The collapse of Assad’s government has undermined Iran’s influence in the region, dealing a blow to what it terms the Resistance Axis, which relies heavily on strategic connections to Hezbollah.

Khamenei, while addressing the Syrian situation, sought to portray resilience and determination. He said that areas in Syria lost to opposition forces would be reclaimed and expressed confidence in the eventual removal of US influence from the region.

However, he also acknowledged potential lapses in Iran’s intelligence communication with Syrian officials.

“Our intelligence apparatus had conveyed warning reports... I do not know if these reports reached high-ranking officials or were lost somewhere in the process,” he said.

The Attorney General’s call to action highlights a renewed focus on controlling internal discourse amid mounting criticism.

In recent years, some critics of Iran’s foreign interventions have faced prison sentences, and the latest directive suggests that Tehran is intensifying efforts to silence dissenting voices.

Western observers, including European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, have framed Assad's downfall as evidence of declining influence for his allies, including Iran.

This crackdown underscores the challenges faced by Iran’s leadership in maintaining its regional aspirations while managing domestic criticism, leaving journalists and activists facing increasing risks for their reporting.