Iran says Israel hit Isfahan nuclear site

Petraeus emphasized that Trump’s move to give Iran a two-week deadline is not mere posturing. It reflects a deliberate and calculated buildup of US military forces in the region.

“The real reason behind the two-week window is to allow the second US aircraft carrier strike group to arrive in the region and for the US military to be fully positioned,” he said.

“This setup would effectively neutralize any attempt by the Iranian regime to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which nearly 20% of the world’s crude oil passes," the former CIA director added.

Senior Revolutionary Guard commander Esmail Kowsari said last Saturday that Iran is considering closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz in response to the Israeli war.

The strait, a key route for global oil shipments, has been at the center of past tensions. Iran has repeatedly threatened to block it, including in 2018 after the US withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear deal with Tehran.

Congressional approval for Iran attack

In his interview with Iran International, Petraeus said the White House is working to engage Congress and may use the 14-day window for winning the lawmakers' support for a possible attack on Iran.

“This period also provides time for congressional consultation — for debate, hearings, and potentially even a vote to authorize a strike. If the president clearly communicates that no ground invasion is planned and defines the mission objectives precisely, I believe Congress would support it," he said.

Petraeus said the Fordow enrichment facility, buried deep within a mountain in central Iran, first came to light during his time as CENTCOM Commander in 2009.

“We had developed and rehearsed a strike plan targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure,” he said. “We fired the actual munitions in exercises to ensure the mission could be carried out successfully — and we succeeded.”

Now, as tensions escalate, Fordow remains a critical concern.

“The central question is whether one bomb would be enough to destroy the facility, or if it would take two or three — or more. I firmly believe the United States can accomplish this mission.”

Petraeus added that success would depend on strike precision, geological factors, and penetration depth — but he expressed full confidence in US military capabilities.

A moment of strategic choice for Iran

Petraeus urged Iran’s leadership to recognize the gravity of the moment.

“Refusing to abandon the nuclear program, continuing uranium enrichment, and denying full and permanent access to IAEA inspectors will lead only to ruin — without achieving any meaningful strategic gain.”

He cautioned that continued defiance would bring further Israeli strikes on Iranian infrastructure, worsening the suffering of the Iranian people already burdened by sanctions and economic hardship.

"If Iran shifted from being a revolutionary state to a status-oriented one, focused on rebuilding its economy, investing in human capital, and leveraging its vast natural resources, the country could have an incredibly bright future.”

Petraeus also acknowledged the complexity of regime change scenarios, pointing to past failures in Libya, Iraq, and Yemen. But he suggested that even within the Iranian government, there may be pragmatic voices ready to move away from nuclear ambitions and support for proxy groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis.

“Perhaps now is the time for Iran to embrace a strategy of national renewal,” Petraeus added. “The opportunity is there — but so is the risk of catastrophic loss if the current path continues.”

“My direct message to Iran’s Supreme Leader is this: the time has come to do what your predecessors did at the end of the Iran-Iraq war — to drink from the ‘poisoned chalice.’ Either you change course now, or face the destruction of your country’s security, energy infrastructure, and nuclear program.”

The Islamic Republic has come to the conclusion that the Trump administration's engagement in nuclear talks with Tehran was merely “a cover” for Israel’s attack on Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News.

“We do not know how we can trust them (the US) anymore," Araghchi said.

When asked if diplomacy can produce a solution in two weeks, he replied, “It is up to the United States to show their determination to pursue a negotiated solution.”

US President Donald Trump, when asked on Friday why he is giving Iran two weeks, said: “Just time to see if people come to their senses.”

In his interview with NBC, Araghchi also talked about chief US negotiator Steve Witkoff, calling him a gentleman who changed his words.

“I think he is a gentleman. Somebody you can work with. But, unfortunately, he changed his words,” he said.

"Attacking Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities, which are under the continuous supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is an unforgivable crime," Iran's foreign minister Araghchi said in Istanbul where he is visiting to attend the ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The Israeli military says its air force has struck and killed Aminpour Joudaki, the commander of the second UAV brigade of the IRGC Air Force.

"As part of his role, Aminpour Joudaki advanced hundreds of UAV attacks against Israeli territory from the area of Ahvaz in southwestern Iran," the IDF said in a statement.

"Following the elimination of Taher Pour, the commander of the UAV headquarters of the IRGC Air Force on June 13, 2025, Joudaki assumed a key role in the headquarters' operations," it added.

The documentary draws on intelligence documents, gang member testimonies and expert analysis to piece together what it called a disturbing operational pattern: Iranian operatives offering incentives in exchange for targeting designated entities.

Among the top targets identified are Israeli interests and diplomatic missions and the London-based Persian language outlet Iran International.

Iran International, which has a broad viewership inside Iran, has long faced threats from the Islamic Republic, but the report appeared to provide previously unreported details on Iran's mobilization of street-level criminal networks to carry out attacks.

In one case, the documentary alleges, Tehran promised to eliminate a gang leader—Rawa Majid, known as the Kurdish Fox—if his enemies agreed to target Israeli interests or Iran International.

Plot origins

The connection began in early 2023, according to SVT, when Majid was briefly in Iran.

Citing Israeli intelligence sources, the documentary suggests Majid was presented with a choice: face imprisonment or cooperate with Iranian authorities. He allegedly chose the latter.

His first assignment was to carry out a grenade attack on the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, but the grenade failed to detonate.

Shortly after, Iranian operatives contacted Majid’s rivals, including the so-called “Rumba” faction led by a man named Ismail Abdo.

The sources cited in the documentary say they were promised Iranian assistance in assassinating Majid if they agreed to strike targets such as synagogues, embassies or Iran International.

Repression: a new phase

Targeting perceived enemies has long been a hallmark of the Islamic Republic but its recruitment of criminal gangs to execute their plans is relatively new.

It indicates a shift in Tehran’s campaign to project force abroad, according to security experts interviewed in the SVT program. Unlike direct state operations, this method offers plausible deniability and minimal diplomatic fallout.

“Outsourcing violence to criminal gangs is a way for the Islamic Republic to do its dirty work abroad—cheaper, deniable, and far more dangerous,” one analyst told SVT.

The inclusion of Iran International among the targets underscores the gravity of the threat faced by its journalists, who have previously faced surveillance, harassment and cyberattacks.

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