US prepares to aid Israeli strikes with aerial refueling - CNN

Sustained explosions have been reported by Iranian media over western Tehran late Monday, with air defenses activated across the capital.

Local outlets predicted that the Tuesday night barrage might be the most intense since the start of hostilities with Israel.

Anti-aircraft fire was observed in central and eastern districts, including Narmak and Lavizan.

The Islamic Republic is in its final throes, Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said, urging a nationwide uprising to hasten what he called its inevitable collapse.

“The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,” Pahlavi said in a statement, adding “Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation.”

Pahlavi called for protests across Iran—from Bandar Abbas to Tabriz—to dismantle what he described as a disintegrating apparatus of repression.

He appealed directly to Iran’s armed forces and civil servants not to defend a “decaying regime,” urging them to “play a historic role” in a transition toward democratic rule.

Addressing fears of post-Islamic Republic instability, he said, “Iran will not descend into civil war or instability. We have a plan for Iran’s future and its flourishing.”

Iran's exiled prince Reza Pahlavi said the Islamic Republic has reached its end and the "regime’s repression apparatus is collapsing.”

He called on the public to launch a popular uprising to finish it off.

The United States is deploying additional fighter aircraft to the Middle East as the Iran-Israel war escalates, three US officials told Reuters.

The buildup includes F-22, F-16, and F-35 jets, one official said.

Donald Trump is expected to strike Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site within days, Israeli officials told Axios, as the US president weighs military action in a high-level security meeting Tuesday.