Iran regime’s fall could be big win for Trump, ex-UN envoy Haley says

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready for any action by the United States, including military steps, in an interview aired by Al Jazeera.

"We are prepared for any move," Araghchi said. "If they want to test the military option again, which they have already tried, we are ready."

He said Iran’s level of readiness is now much higher, both in quantity and quality, than before the 12-day war in June.

"Our preparedness is much stronger than before, in both scale and capability," he said. "We are ready for all options - whether they choose a military option or a diplomatic one, under the conditions I mentioned."

Araghchi said the main question was whether Washington would choose what he called a wise path.

"The important thing is how much a rational course is taken," he said. "Unfortunately, some are trying to drag America into war and endless wars to serve Israel’s interests."

"We will see how much the United States chooses the path of wisdom," he added.

Iran’s anti-government protests are rooted in long-standing restrictions on girls and women, including access to education, said Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education activist and Nobel peace prize laureate.

Yousafzai said on X that the ongoing protests “cannot be separated from the long-standing, state-imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s autonomy,” and added: “Iranian girls, like girls everywhere, demand a life with dignity.”

She said Iranians had warned about repression “at great personal risk” for decades and described a broader system of control shaped by “segregation, surveillance, and punishment.”

Yousafzai said Iranians were demanding the right to determine their political future, adding that it “must be driven by the Iranian people, and include the leadership of Iranian women and girls.”

“I stand with the people and girls of Iran in their call for freedom and dignity,” she wrote.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that large-scale protests in Iran show that conditions will not get easier for Russia, calling the unrest a chance for change.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said many people around the world want Iranians to free themselves from what he described as a regime that has brought harm to Ukraine and other countries.

He urged world leaders, governments and international organizations to act now to support the Iranian people and help remove those responsible for the country’s current state.

"Everything can be different," he wrote.

US Representative Yassamin Ansari said Iran’s authorities are cutting internet access and phone lines as they commit “mass atrocities” against Iranians, seeking to conceal abuses.

“As the Islamic Republic commits mass atrocities against the Iranian people, it is cutting internet access and phone lines to hide its crimes,” said the representative for Arizona’s third congressional district.

She urged Washington to “act now” to assess direct-to-cell connectivity and use funding authorized in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to expand internet access in Iran.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the violence against protesters and expressed hope that the Iranian people remove the current government to establish a democratic Iran where human rights are respected.

“We stand with the people of Iran in fighting against what is an oppressive regime, one that has oppressed its people, one that, I hope, is removed by the people,” Albanese said at a press conference on Tuesday in Canberra.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the current Iranian government “lacks any legitimacy” because it requires the murder of its own citizens to maintain power.

“What I would say to that regime is not only is the world calling on you to stop killing your people, but a regime that requires the murder of its own people to maintain authority is not a regime with any legitimacy,” she said.

“We continue to call on the regime, as has President Trump and world leaders, to cease this brutal oppression of its people,” she added.