Iran army chief warns US and Israel against meddling in protests

British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat said there were reports of Russian cargo aircraft landing in Tehran and large amounts of gold leaving Iran, asking whether this suggested the Iranian leadership was preparing for life after a possible fall.

“We’re also seeing Russian cargo aircraft coming and landing in Tehran, presumably carrying weapons and ammunition, and we’re hearing reports of large amounts of gold leaving Iran,” Tugendhat told parliament. He asked whether the government could update lawmakers on reports that “suggest that the regime itself is preparing for life after the fall.”

Responding, UK Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Hamish Falconer said he was “not in a position to give a detailed update” on the reports, but said Britain believed freedom of assembly and the right to protest were “inalienable rights of the Iranian people” and should be respected by the Iranian government.

The judiciary’s Mizan news agency said Ali Ardestani was hanged after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence.

According to the court ruling, Ardestani was recruited online by Mossad officers and carried out assigned tasks in exchange for payments and promises, including financial rewards and the prospect of a visa to Britain.

According to the report, Ardestani was accused of collecting images and information about specific locations and individuals and transferring them to Mossad handlers.

The judiciary said that Ardestani had both virtual and in-person contacts with alleged intermediaries inside Iran.

• 

  Iran executes student on charges of spying for Israel

• 

  Iran executes man accused of spying for Israel

Mizan said Ardestani was arrested while carrying out what it described as an intelligence mission and later admitted during interrogations and court proceedings that he was aware he was working with Mossad.

Iran has executed more than a dozen people in recent months on charges of spying for Israel, cases that human rights groups say often involve opaque legal proceedings. Israel rarely comments on such allegations.

Iranian authorities have said more than 700 people were detained on suspicion of espionage or collaboration with Israel following the conflict in June.

That assessment was underscored on Tuesday by a statement from Iran’s Defense Council, formed after the June war with Israel, which warned that the country could respond before an attack if it detected clear signs of a threat.

In remarks carried by state media, the council said Iran did not consider itself restricted to responding only after an action had taken place and would treat “tangible signs of a threat” as part of its security calculus.

The warning came amid an escalating war of words between Tehran and Washington, with President Donald Trump recently cautioning that the United States would act if Iranian security forces continued killing protesters.

Signaling deterrence

Against that backdrop, Iranian officials have sought to project readiness while downplaying the likelihood of immediate war.

“We will not launch a pre-emptive strike unless our military commanders deem it necessary,” Abolfazl Zohrevand, a member of parliament’s national security committee, said on Tuesday—suggesting that while escalation is not inevitable, the option of striking first remains firmly on the table.

Since late December, reports from international outlets such as Euronews, alongside eyewitness accounts shared online, have pointed to sightings of missile trails over several cities, including Tehran, Mashhad and Kermanshah.

Iranian authorities have not commented publicly on the reports, but they have reinforced the sense that missiles have become the most visible pillar of Iran’s deterrence posture.

The moderate outlet Khabar Online wrote on Monday that the reported missile activity suggested “a shift in Iran’s strategy against Israel,” arguing that Tehran was now prioritizing the restoration of its missile capabilities while keeping its nuclear program in the background.

Gearing for conflict?

Other state-aligned media have been more explicit.

In a January 6 commentary, the Asia News website argued that recent missile and air-defense drills were intended to test and showcase Iran’s capabilities, improve coordination among the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, the regular army and air-defense units, and send a deterrent signal to Israel and the United States.

It added that nighttime operations were designed to enhance combat readiness under low-visibility conditions.

Given that Asia News is primarily an economic outlet with no military specialization, analysts say such commentary may reflect messaging prepared by military sources rather than independent assessment.

Analysts also caution that the quieter nuclear posture may reflect financial constraints and a desire to avoid drawing US attention at a moment of intense scrutiny of Iran’s nuclear facilities, rather than a fundamental change in long-term strategy.

As Khabar Online itself noted with thinly veiled irony, “this shift in Iran’s strategy is likely to pave the way for more complex security competition rather than reducing tensions.”

As the tenth day of unrest wraps up, Tehran appears to be pursuing a dual control strategy: widespread arrests of individuals described as riot leaders, alongside intensified news censorship and tighter restrictions on internet access.

The website Asr-e Iran reported on Tuesday that not a single reporter or photographer from non-state outlets is currently permitted to conduct field coverage of demonstrations.

During the early days of the unrest, state media—including the national broadcaster—unexpectedly aired limited and heavily censored coverage of protests.

Some appeared to validate people’s right to protest, signaling a brief opening toward a more conciliatory stance.

Khamenei intervention

That tone shifted sharply after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s speech on Saturday, in which he rejected any accommodation with those he described as “rioters.”

Since then, official rhetoric has again turned confrontational, even as protests and strikes have continued to spread.

On Monday night, large crowds took to the streets in eastern Tehran, an area traditionally regarded as a conservative stronghold.

On Tuesday, bazaar merchants once again closed their shops and took to surrounding streets in numbers not previously seen in online videos since the protests began.

Footage circulating on social media appears to show a noticeable increase in the number of demonstrators in several other cities as well.

It also points to the spread of strikes to Kurdish regions, where political parties have called on residents to join work stoppages starting Thursday.

‘Enemy conspiracy’

Despite this, official and semi-official outlets have insisted that the unrest is fading.

The Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Fars News Agency claimed on Tuesday that “riotous movements” had declined sharply since Monday night and were limited to a few locations.

“People, despite having grievances about living conditions and high prices, have shown no support for these riots or even street protests,” Fars asserted.

Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the hardline Kayhan, which is funded by the office of the Supreme Leader, went further, claiming that a planned “enemy conspiracy” had been neutralized thanks to the “vigilance, faith and devotion” of bazaar merchants and the public.

Feeble administration

The administration of President Masoud Pezeshkian, by contrast, has sought to strike a more restrained tone—though with limited influence over events unfolding on the streets.

On Tuesday, Mehdi Tabatabei, one of the president’s deputies, wrote on X that it was the government’s duty to hear protesters’ voices and respond to their “reasonable” demands, arguing that the line between protest and “riot” lay in avoiding violence.

The administration has also tasked a committee with probing security forces’ attack on a hospital in Ilam where protesters had sought refuge.

Writing in the daily Ham-Mihan, moderate pundit Abbas Abdi warned that officials were mistaken to believe the unrest could simply be “wrapped up” without addressing its underlying causes.

A society protesting for multiple reasons, he wrote, including economic hardship, retains a high potential for renewed unrest even after periods of enforced silence.

One defining feature of the current wave of protests has been its expansion into smaller towns grappling with poverty and unemployment.

Another, more telling—and ignored characteristically by pundits who address Pezeshkian and not Khamenei—is the growing irrelevance of the civilian administration at moments like this, when the confrontation crystalises into protesters against the security apparatus.

Exiled prince Reza Pahlavi told Fox News he has stepped forward “to lead this transition from this tyranny to a future democracy,” saying his aim is a peaceful change “by means of national referendum and constitutional assembly,” and that he is “more than ever ready to step in Iran” for the “ultimate battle.”

“At the call of my compatriots, I stepped forward to lead this transition from this tyranny to a future democracy,” Pahlavi told Sean Hannity on Fox on Tuesday. “My role is to help my compatriots achieve that goal… I’m impartial as to what the ultimate result will be, so long as it’s a secular democracy.”

“I’ve trained all my life to serve my nation,” Pahlavi said. “I’m more than ever ready to step in Iran as soon as the situation warrants itself, and I’ll be there among my compatriots to lead the ultimate battle.”