More Stories
Former Deputy National Security advisor Victoria Coates says a possible nuclear-armed Iran would pose a direct threat to the United States, pointing to decades of hostile rhetoric and attacks attributed to Tehran.
“Iran has been chanting ‘death to America’ and ‘death to Israel’ for almost 50 years now, and the Supreme Leader has said that that's not just a slogan, that's a policy,” she added. “He is responsible for the deaths of Americans in Beirut, in Iraq, in Latin America.”
Coates highlighted Iran’s investments in long-range missile capabilities and warned of potential nuclear terrorism through allied groups.
“They've been willing to pour resources into developing a delivery mechanism in the form of an intercontinental ballistic missile,” she said. “They could provide it to a terrorist proxy… What if Hamas had had a backpack bomb on October 7th?”
Israeli security experts have cast doubt on Tehran’s recent claims of obtaining sensitive Israeli intelligence as exaggerated or psychological warfare while Iran’s intelligence minister says the documents will soon be made public.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB reported on Saturday that Iranian intelligence services had obtained a large volume of sensitive material from Israel, including documents related to the Jewish state's nuclear and strategic facilities.
Asher Ben-Artzi, a former head of Israel’s Interpol, told Iran International, “I know that the relevant information is well-guarded in Israel and it does not seem to me that hackers can access it."
He warned that the intelligence may not be as significant as claimed. “Iran wants to tell the world that their intelligence personnel are professionals, but they probably think that their use of disinformation will increase their achievements,” he said.
Intelligence analyst Ronen Solomon also said, “We don’t know if it’s something scientific or operational, and it could possibly be something like details of the supply chain. Nobody in Israel has confirmed this officially so it could also be a psychological operation.”
"Iran is attempting to replicate what Israel did to Tehran’s nuclear archives in 2018," he said, referring to the Israeli intelligence operation that allegedly seized Iranian nuclear files from a warehouse in Tehran.
In 2018, Israel said it had stolen Iran's nuclear documents including 55,000 pages and 55,000 digital files from a warehouse in Tehran's Shourabad area through an intelligence operation.
Iran has since been accusing the UN nuclear watchdog of using those documents in its reports about the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities.
Iran says it will release documents soon
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib said on Sunday that Tehran had obtained “a vast collection of strategic and sensitive documents, including plans and data on the nuclear facilities of the Zionist regime,” referring to Israel. He added that the documents would be published soon.
According to Iran’s state news agency ISNA, Khatib said the material would enhance Iran’s “offensive power” and added that the documents also contained data about the United States, European countries, and others.
“Complete nuclear documents have been obtained and transferred,” he said.
He described the operation as broad, multi-dimensional, and complex, involving infiltration, recruitment, and increased access to Israeli sources.
“The transfer method is just as important as the documents themselves. We ensured the documents reached us securely, and we are protecting the methods as well,” Khatib said, adding that the transfer process itself would remain classified for now.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB had earlier reported that the documents were already outside Israeli territory and under review, but provided no evidence.
The reports come as Israeli authorities investigate the arrest of Roy Mizrahi and Almog Atias, two Israelis accused of conducting surveillance for Iran, allegedly in the town of Kfar Ahim, home to Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Iran’s media linked their arrest to the intelligence haul, saying it happened after the data had been exfiltrated.
Israeli officials have accused the two of cooperating knowingly with Iranian handlers, and that they carried out tasks including the transfer of a suspected explosive device.
A report by Microsoft last year that Israel had surpassed the United States as the primary target of Iranian state-backed cyberattacks following the war in Gaza.
Iran’s average meat consumption has dropped to as little as seven kilograms per person annually from an average of 18, with some citizens eating none at all, according to Masoud Rasouli, secretary of the Meat Production and Packaging Association.
“Meat consumption in Iran is deeply unequal—some eat nothing, while others manage 20 kilograms a year,” Rasouli said on Sunday, pointing to the vast economic inequalities in the country.
Iran once averaged 18 kilograms of meat consumption per person annually, while the global average remains around 32 kilograms, he added.
“In some countries, especially in South America, people consume up to 100 kilograms of meat per year,” Rasouli said.
Rasouli added that a kilogram of mutton now costs about 10 million rials—around $13—while the average monthly income in Iran is just $200 to $250. With the rial trading near 830,000 to the dollar, even basic food items have become inaccessible for many.
Rasouli added that processed items like sausages and cold cuts have become more expensive than fresh meat.
After years of crippling inflation, averaging around 40 percent annually for five consecutive years, over 30 percent of the population now lives below the poverty line. Food, housing, and healthcare costs have risen sharply, cutting deeply into household consumption.
In April, a World Bank brief about Iran said that with a projected contraction in per-capita GDP, poverty is expected to increase to 20 percent in 2025-2026.
"Poorer households are disproportionately rural, uneducated, female-headed, and have not historically benefited from periods of economic expansion," the report said.
A report released in September by The Statistical Center of Iran showed that since 2022, the divide between rich and poor in Iran continues to widen.
Russia’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that this week’s meeting of the agency’s Board of Governors is expected to be tense due to Western plans to introduce a resolution on Iran’s nuclear program.
Mikhail Ulyanov said on X that the United States and the three European powers (UK, France, and Germany) intend to table a draft resolution, but warned it “will not bring positive results.”
As nuclear talks with the United States remain stalled and sanctions continue to choke its economy, Iran is intensifying its eastward pivot by leveraging its full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) to deepen economic and strategic ties across Central and South Asia, according to an analysis by Al-Monitor
Central Bank of Iran Governor Mohammad Reza Farzin this week proposed the creation of a joint SCO bank during a central bankers’ summit in Beijing. He said the initiative would reduce reliance on Western institutions like the IMF and World Bank and foster a multilateral financial platform among Eastern states.
Since joining the SCO in July 2023, Iran has pursued trade, infrastructure, and defense partnerships with members such as China, Russia, and India, positioning itself as a regional hub.
Tehran implemented a free trade deal with the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union in May, aiming to boost trade to $12 billion and reinforce its role in transport corridors like the North-South Transport Corridor.
“Iran has always identified as a West Asia country looking with interest to Central Asia,” Roberto Neccia, an independent Iran analyst, told Al-Monitor.
“If nuclear talks with the United States fail to produce a comprehensive agreement, “Iran will increase its projection to the region, fully exploiting its potential,” said Neccia.
Geneva-based strategic adviser Torek Farhadi said, “Central Asian states are landlocked, and from a geo-economic standpoint, Iran offers them access to the Persian Gulf.”“There is no real substitute for sanctions relief — the talks remain vital.”
