Netanyahu stirs debate in Iran with ‘rise up’ call, water pledge

Director General of the Defense Ministry, Major General Amir Baram, has ordered the expedited development and production of air defense systems, including the Arrow 3, Arrow 4, Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and a ground-based laser system, according to the report.

The directive also covers additional ground-based laser systems, various radar systems, and other classified technologies.

Each of these defense systems covers different capabilities. The Iron Dome is a short-range system that intercepts rockets and artillery shells with a range of 4-70 km (2-43 miles). It uses radar to detect and track threats, and its interceptors destroy them mid-air.

Arrow 3 and Arrow 4 are long-range ballistic missile defense systems. Arrow 2 intercepts missiles in the upper atmosphere, while Arrow 3 targets them in space, making it effective against threats such as Iran’s ballistic missiles.

David’s Sling is a medium-range defense, intercepts tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones (40-300 km, 24-186 miles range).

On Thursday, Israel’s military chief said the army is prepared to launch more strikes on Iran if necessary, after what he described as a successful preemptive war in June that halted an emerging existential threat to Israel.

Baram’s order follows continued missile launches by Iran-backed Houthis from Yemen and also speculations about the resumption of the June war between Iran and Israel.

Investigations into Iranian missile strikes on Israel—particularly those in the final hours before the ceasefire—are a focus of the air defense unit’s current assessments, the Walla News report said.

The last missile salvo against Israel occurred on June 24, when Iran fired six barrages totaling 20 ballistic missiles. Israel said most were intercepted, but some hit targets, including an apartment complex in Beersheba.

Baram’s directive places strong emphasis on cooperation with the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). Israel officially became part of CENTCOM’s area of responsibility in 2021.

Israel launched a surprise military campaign on June 13 targeting military and nuclear sites, assassinating senior Iranian commanders, and killing hundreds of civilians.

During the 12-day conflict, Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and at least 11 senior nuclear scientists.

According to an Iranian government spokesperson, 1,062 Iranians were killed, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.

Iran retaliated with missile strikes that killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier.

Israel's military says that the interception rate for missiles and drones during the 12-day war was about 90%.

It’s a task Ali Khamenei once handled directly — intervening to rein in factions and reassert unity — but his low profile in recent weeks has left a vacuum.

Not long before this “visible invisibility,” Khamenei publicly warned against the perils of political loose talk.

“Our shortcomings, our tongue wagging, our pointless bickering, our lack of patience, our incorrect analysis of the situation, sometimes change the course of history,” he said on April 24.

At the time, the remarks were read as a reprimand to officials for lax security and for letting their rivalries spill into the open, weakening Tehran’s hand in dealings with adversaries, above all Israel and the United States.

Now, those same dynamics are on display again, but it’s the IRGC playing nanny, sweeping up the shards of political infighting while Khamenei focuses elsewhere.

The clerical establishment is trying to thread an impossible needle: secure sanctions relief, or at least stave off a European “snapback” of UN sanctions, through diplomacy, while rebuilding its triple deterrence— missile and drone stockpiles, its proxy network, and uranium enrichment program.

Fracas One: ‘golden calf’

On August 5, Saeed Jalili, a Khamenei representative to the Supreme National Security Council and a prominent hardliner, lashed out at advocates of renewed talks with Washington, calling them “golden calf worshippers”—a scriptural reference denoting impatience and betrayal.

Jalili, who lost to Masoud Pezeshkian in the 2024 presidential race, has long opposed engagement with the West. But this time his remarks drew fire not just from reformists, but also from the hardest core of Iran’s power: the IRGC.

The IRGC-linked daily Javan warned that airing strategic disputes in public was “harmful,” while the Guards-affiliated Tasnim news agency cautioned against “radicalism.”

Only Raja News, tied to the sidelined family of late president Ebrahim Raisi, backed Jalili — a move likely aimed at clawing back influence.

Under sustained pressure, Jalili retreated on August 12, posting on X that failing to negotiate when opportunities arise would “cause losses,” citing Khamenei’s April endorsement of Oman-mediated nuclear talks with the U.S.

Fracas Two: no way but to talk

From the other side of the political spectrum, President Pezeshkian triggered the next flare-up on August 10.

“You reject engaging in talks. What’s your alternative? Do you want to fight? Fine, [the adversaries will] strike again. Then you have to repair the damage… These are not issues to be approached emotionally,” he told critics.

Reformist outlets hailed his “realism” and “honesty,” while hardline media accused him of advocating “surrender.” Again, the IRGC intervened.

Aziz Ghazanfari, a senior political chief, praised Pezeshkian’s “honesty and purity,” but warned that “not everything should be said in public” and urged him to stick to pre-approved, scripted comments.

Whether the IRGC can keep senior politicians’ “tongue wagging” in check—and prevent Khamenei’s carefully balanced machinations from unravelling—may determine whether Tehran’s strategy holds or fractures again.

On the fourth day of the Israeli 12-day war on Iran, the SNSC meeting attended by the heads of Iran’s three branches of power was hit by six bombs or missiles. Iranian state media later reported that President Pezeshkian and some other officials sustained minor leg injuries when trying to flee.

“I immediately ran out of the meeting and saw Pezeshkian walking about four meters away. He was on his feet, with a slight injury to his leg,” Mohsen Haji-Mirzaei, chief of staff to the Iranian president, said in an interview aired by the state TV on Friday.

He said that despite his injured leg, President Pezeshkian took a shower that day and met with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The next day, he visited a doctor to drain a swollen hematoma from his leg.

“Israel had a calculated plan to kill Pezeshkian, but God did not will his death,” Haji-Mirzaei said.

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  What we know about alleged Israeli strike on Iran's National Security Council

Israel targeted the building’s entrances and exits with six missiles or bombs to block escape routes and cut off airflow, Revolutionary Guards affiliated Fars News reported last month.

“Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni had inhaled so much dust that he was struggling to breathe, and medics were helping him," Pezeshkian's chief of staff said.

“I saw General Mousavi (Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces) with his face and body covered in dust and his clothes torn,” Haji-Mirzaei added.

Israel launched a surprise military campaign on June 13 targeting military and nuclear sites, assassinating senior Iranian commanders and killing hundreds of civilians.

During the 12-day conflict, Israel killed more than 30 senior security officials and at least 11 senior nuclear scientists. According to an Iranian government spokesperson, 1,062 Iranians were killed, including 786 military personnel and 276 civilians.

Iran retaliated with missile strikes that killed 31 civilians and one off-duty soldier. On June 22, the United States joined the campaign by carrying out airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.

A US-brokered ceasefire put an end to the conflict on June 24.

“Customs data shows a 60% decrease in soybean meal imports and an 8% decrease in corn imports in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year,” ILNA news agency reported.

“Animal feed inputs of very low quality have reached end consumers at prices about twice the approved rates due to import monopolies — a trend that seriously threatens the country's food security in the sensitive period following June’s 12-day war with Israel,” ILNA quoted Mojtaba Aali, the CEO of the National Livestock Farmers Union, as saying, referring to June's 12-day war with Israel.

Aali said that livestock farmers in Fars province, a key hub for livestock production, recently held protests over the issue.

According to Iranian media, over the past five months, reserves of supplies such as corn and soybean meal, which are mostly imported from countries such as Brazil, have been significantly lower than the country’s monthly consumption.

In the same period, a rise in prices has been recorded, affecting most livestock farmers and their ability to purchase animal feed.

“Corn has been traded at 130,000 rials ($1.30), barley at 220,000 rials ($2.30), and soybean meal at 230,000 rials ($2.40),” ILNA reported.

According to S&P Global, the June war has left behind many issues facing the country's food security, not least regarding essential imports.

"Exporters of corn and soybeans in Brazil and Basmati rice from India have already raised alarms about trade with Iran due to rising insurance premiums, delayed payments, and wartime dangers such as jamming of navigation or communication systems," its analysts wrote.

Amid an economic crisis, Iran is currently grappling with multiple national challenges including severe water shortages and widespread power outages which are also hampering the country's agricultural industry.

As of 2025, data from Iran’s Statistics Center shows that the country’s agricultural land has shrunk to 15.43 million hectares, a decrease from 18 million hectares in previous years.

Farming continues to be a major source of livelihood, supporting over 4.5 million people, 89% of whom live in rural areas and 11% in urban settings, with the agricultural sector contributing roughly 8.3% to Iran’s GDP and employing about 27% of the national workforce.

Compounding this, over the past year, the country has experienced a 1.5°C increase in average temperatures and a 45% decline in rainfall, leading to further desertification across the country.

Speaking in the eastern city of Baalbek at a Shi’ite religious gathering marking the Arbaeen, Qassem said “the resistance will not hand over its weapons” and pledged to fight a “Karbala-like battle” if necessary.

The Battle of Karbala, the most iconic event in Shia Islam, was fought in 680 between Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, and the forces of Umayyad Caliph Yazid I; Qassem likened Iran’s Supreme Leader to the “Hussein of our time” and named Israel and the United States as the “Yazid of our time.”

Qassem described the group’s arms as central to Lebanon’s “honor, dignity, patriotism, and sovereignty,” and credited the Islamic Republic for its ongoing financial, military, and political support.

Threatening US embassy in Beirut

Qassem also warned the Lebanese government against any moves to confront Hezbollah, saying such action would leave “no life” in the country.

He said Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally, the Amal movement, had decided to postpone street demonstrations against a US-supported disarmament plan, citing a remaining window for dialogue with authorities.

However, he cautioned that any future protests could extend to the vicinity of the US Embassy in Beirut.

The US submitted a plan through President Donald Trump's envoy to the region, Tom Barrack, setting out the most detailed steps yet for disarming Hezbollah, which has rejected mounting calls to disarm since its devastating war with Israel last year.

Lebanon’s justice minister said on Friday that the government was already working on a plan to collect Hezbollah’s weapons before the US proposal, as part of efforts to strengthen state authority and keep arms solely in the hands of official forces.

"The threat by some to destroy Lebanon in defense of their weapons puts an end to the claim that the weapons are for defending Lebanon," Adel Nassar wrote on X.

The Lebanese cabinet’s August 5 order to disarm Hezbollah during conflict drew sharp criticism from Tehran.

Senior Iranian official Ali-Akbar Velayati called the decision “a dream that won’t come true,” labeling it an Israeli- and US-driven policy. Lebanon’s foreign ministry condemned those remarks as “unacceptable interference” in domestic affairs.

Qassem’s remarks came after Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani visited Lebanon, meeting Qassem, President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and other officials.

Aoun told Larijani on Wednesday that no group should bear arms outside the authority of the state or rely on foreign backing, while affirming openness to cooperation “within national sovereignty and mutual respect.”

Larijani responded by voicing respect for Lebanon’s government decisions but also urged Beirut to “appreciate the value of the resistance,” calling Israel the country’s true enemy.

He denied that Iran interferes in Lebanon’s affairs and pledged continued political and reconstruction support.

Founded in 1982 by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Hezbollah has grown into Lebanon’s most powerful military force, surpassing the national army in capabilities. The group has fought multiple wars with Israel and has rejected any initiatives to dismantle its military wing.

“The aggression continues,” Qassem said, “and we will confront it as we have always done — with our weapons in hand.”