US condemns Iran over arrests at private party, Panahi sentence

“The recent war enabled us to close many of our security gaps. The war gave us valuable experience because it revealed our weaknesses and we eliminated them,” Araghchi cited in an interview with Omani broadcaster Moosa Al-Farei, published on Monday.

Araghchi said the surprise military campaign by Israel in June, did not achieve the objectives and was a miscalculation.

“They (Israel) imagined that if this war began, the Iranian nation would take to the streets and protest against the government and the system. But what happened was exactly the opposite: the nation came out into the streets to support the government and the country,” Araghchi said.

Israel attacks killed over 20 senior commanders, including Mohammad Bagheri, Chief of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces; Hossein Salami, Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Commander-in-chief; and Gholamali Rashid, Head of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.

The attacks on June 21 also struck the IRGC’s external arm, killing Mohammad Saeed Izadi, who oversaw Palestinian operations, and Mohammadreza Nasirbaghban, the Quds Force’s deputy for intelligence.

“They thought that if our military commanders were assassinated in the first hours of the war, our armed forces would collapse. On the contrary, replacement commanders were immediately appointed, and the armed forces fought with even higher morale,” Araghchi said.

“This war that the Zionist regime started was based on miscalculation and misunderstanding. As I said, repeating this mistake will bring nothing but a similar defeat,” he added.

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program earlier this year, for which President Donald Trump set a 60-day ultimatum.

When no agreement was reached by the 61st day Israel launched a surprise military offensive on June 13, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

Brigadier General Daniel Gold, head of the Defense Ministry’s Research and Development Directorate, confirmed the handover date at the International Defense Tech Summit in Tel Aviv.

“With development complete and a comprehensive testing program that has validated the system’s capabilities, we are prepared to deliver initial operational capability to the IDF on 30 December 2025,” Gold said. “The Iron Beam laser system is expected to fundamentally change the rules of engagement on the battlefield.”

‘Shoot down with light’

Yuval Steinitz, chairman of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and former Israeli finance minister, described Iron Beam as a “laser revolution.”

“For the first time in human history, we are able to shoot down missiles, rockets, even artillery shells, mortar shells, cruise missiles, and airplanes, not with projectiles but with light,” Steinitz cited by the Misgav Mideast Horizons Podcast.

Steinitz said that Lite Beam, a smaller version, already intercepted around 50 Hezbollah drones in October 2024.

"Each Iron Beam interception costs about $3 - compared with $50,000 for an Iron Dome missile and $5,000–$10,000 for enemy rockets - and operates at the speed of light, enabling immediate interception over launch areas and reducing shelter alerts," Jewish Insider cited Steinitz as saying.

“Combined with Iron Dome and David’s Sling, the system will push interception rates close to 100 percent against threats from Gaza and Lebanon,” Steinitz said, adding that lasers will not fully replace kinetic interceptors in the near term due to weather and saturation issues.

Israel currently operates a multi-layered missile defense network comprising Iron Dome, David’s Sling, Arrow 2, Arrow 3 and the forthcoming Arrow 4.

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).

Steinitz said Rafael likely might develop longer-range laser systems to counter missiles fired by Iran and Yemen’s Houthis in recent years.

Despite high rate of interception rate, some Iranian missiles penetrated Israel's multi-layered defense systems during a12-Day war in June.

His remarks appeared to confirm reporting on the message by Iran International on Friday citing sources familiar with the matter.

“The United States and Trump through Bin Salman have set three conditions for continuing negotiations and reaching an agreement with Iran, none of which are logical,” Mojtaba Zolnouri (Zonnouri) said in an interview with state media.

The United States has long insisted that Iran must completely halt its uranium enrichment program, stop supporting its armed allies in the Middle East and accept restrictions on its ballistic missile program.

Tehran rejects the conditions as a non-starter for any talks.

“These are preliminaries for our destruction, and it is obvious we will not accept them. Whenever they enter negotiations in the true sense-give and take-and prove they are acting in good faith, we have no problem,” said Zolnouri, a former deputy parliament speaker and current national security and foreign policy committee.

“If they clip our wings in the region, they will dominate us much sooner. You stop supporting Israel, then Israel will collapse on its own, and we won’t need to support any movement called the Resistance,” he added.

“What logic is there in telling us to shut down our missile program or limit the range to only 300 kilometers (186 miles)”?

In a speech on Thursday, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dismissed reports that Tehran had sought Riyadh’s help to facilitate talks with Washington last week, saying outreach to Trump would be beneath Iran’s dignity.

‘US must regain Iran's trust’

Meanwhile Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Japanese counterpart Toshimitsu Motegi that the United States bears responsibility for restoring Iran’s confidence in diplomatic processes.

“It is the United States that must regain Iran’s trust in diplomacy,” Araghchi cited as saying to Motegi on Monday, according to statement from Iran’s foreign ministry.

Japan’s foreign ministry said Motegi urged early resumption of US-Iran negotiations and immediate full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its disputed nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60-day deadline.

When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

Earlier, a statement from Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli prime minister spoke with Trump but did not mention the two leaders had discussed Iran.

The statement added Trump invited Netanyahu to a meeting at the White House in the near future.

CNN's report comes as Israeli media cited Israeli Defense Ministry Director-General Amir Baram as saying that the country is developing more new technologies to prepare for the next potential war against Iran.

"Enemies are learning and adapting. We are at a pivotal point before a new paradigm takes place," the Jerusalem Post quoted Baram as saying at the International DefenseTech Summit in Tel Aviv on Monday.

“Iran’s rapid force buildup in air defense and ballistic missile capabilities,” driven by “its extremist ideology” means that “all fronts are still open” and the Israeli military must be ready for another conflict, Baram said according to the Jerusalem Post.

Speaking at the same conference on Thursday, Daniel Gold, head of Israel’s Defense Ministry Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), said the country’s new laser defense system will be rolled out by the end of December.

“The Iron Beam laser system is expected to fundamentally change the rules of engagement on the battlefield," Gold said.

"With development complete and a comprehensive testing program that has validated the system's capabilities, we are prepared to deliver initial operational capability to the IDF,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.

Speaking to Iran International, Farzin Nadimi, senior researcher on defense and security at the US-based Washington Institute think tank, said both Iran and Israel were seeking to shape their adversary's calculations with their public statements.

Iranian military and political leaders have vowed a punishing response to any renewed Israeli attack.

“In this war of long-range strikes, the psychological dimension and the battle of narratives are just as important as the missiles and bombs exchanged between Iran and Israel,” he said.

“They see it as an important part of the deterrence they are trying to create against the other side.”

Mostafa Nili said Panahi was sentenced in absentia and that Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court also imposed a two-year travel ban and barred him from membership in any political or social organizations.

Panahi had travelled to the United States to collect three awards, including best director, at the Gotham Awards in New York for his latest film, It Was Just an Accident.

As one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors and a winner of major international film awards, Panahi has faced repeated arrest and curbs on his work in recent years.

In May, Panahi received the Palme d’Or at the 78th Cannes Film Festival for his film It Was Just an Accident, a political thriller shot secretly in Iran without government authorization and in open defiance of the country’s compulsory hijab laws.

In his acceptance speech, Panahi urged unity among Iranians striving for democracy: "Let's set aside our differences. The important thing now is the freedom of our country, so that no one would dare to tell us what to wear or what film to make."

In September, France selected the film as its submission for the Academy Awards in the international feature category, giving the filmmaker a path to Hollywood that Tehran was unlikely to offer.

The 98th Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 15, 2026.

Panahi has spent much of the past 15 years under house arrest or in prison. He was arrested in July 2022 after he protested against the arrest of two fellow filmmakers who had voiced criticism of the authorities. He was sentenced to six years in prison before being released on bail in early 2023.