IAEA inspections now count as ‘espionage,’ Iranian ex-MP says

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday criticized several European countries for not condemning military actions by the United States and Israel.

“The unconditional support of certain European countries and the United States for the Israeli regime during the genocide in occupied Palestine, and subsequently its aggressions against Lebanon and Syria, has been one of the main factors contributing to the continuation of this regime's aggressions,” Araghchi said during a phone call with his Polish counterpart.

Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi on Thursday urged Iranians to engage in civil disobedience to bring down the Islamic Republic, saying the state had sharply weakened in recent weeks.

“The regime is trying to intimidate and demoralize you. The truth is that the Islamic Republic has grown dozens of times weaker over the past two weeks, while we are stronger and more prepared than ever,” Pahlavi said in a video message.

In this message, Pahlavi framed the moment as ripe for mass, coordinated disobedience.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Thursday called on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to investigate reports that Israeli drones may have entered Iranian airspace via Azerbaijani territory during the recent conflict with Israel.

In a phone call, Pezeshkian stressed the need for verification of claims that drones and micro-UAVs linked to Israel crossed into Iran from Azerbaijan.

According to Iran’s readout of the call, Aliyev denied reports that Azerbaijan allowed its airspace to be used in attacks against Iran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said his country intended to assassinate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but never had the operational opportunity.
“If he had been in our sights, we would have taken him out,” he told Channel 13.
“We wanted to eliminate Khamenei, but there was no operational opportunity.”
When asked if Israel sought US approval, he replied: “We don’t need permission for these things.”

The Pentagon disclosed new details about the US operation that struck Iran’s deeply buried nuclear facility at Fordow, describing it as the culmination of 15 years of classified planning and weapons development to overcome one of the most fortified sites in the world.

General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Operation Midnight Hammer was enabled by breakthrough munitions technology that allowed six precision weapons to penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear mission center, exploiting vulnerabilities in its ventilation shafts.

According to Caine, US intelligence had tracked Iran’s recent efforts to conceal the shafts by pouring concrete caps over them—an attempt thwarted when the first US weapon shattered the barrier. The subsequent strikes, traveling at speeds of 1,000 feet per second, delivered a combination of explosive force and overpressure that “neutralized” the target.

The mission was initiated over a decade ago by an officer from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) who, upon identifying Fordow as a hard target, recognized that the US lacked the weaponry to effectively reach it.

“I spoke to the two DTRA officers who lived this single target for over a decade,” Caine said. “Their hearts were filled with pride to be part of this.”

Following the Fordow strike, Iran retaliated with a barrage of missiles aimed at US and allied targets in the Persian Gulf. At Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, 44 American service members fended off the attack in what Caine called “the single largest Patriot missile engagement in US history.”

“They had two minutes to succeed or fail,” Caine said. “They absolutely crushed it.”