Former IRGC commander says Khamenei advisor dismissed threat to his life before war
Hossein Alaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Navy, said he warned former Supreme Leader's advisor Ali Shamkhani three days before the war that the United States and Israel would begin the conflict by assassinating Iran’s leadership.
Alaei said Ali Shamkhani replied that they could not kill Ali Khamenei because they would not be able to find him.
A large shelter had been built beneath Khamenei’s compound, stretching about five kilometers at a depth of roughly 40 meters underground.
Alaei said he had assessed that the US and Israel’s plan A had been the 12-day war, their plan B was the January protests, and that he had predicted their plan C would begin with killing Khamenei.
Supporters of the Islamic Republic have insisted that Khamenei did not use the shelter. But Amir-Hossein Sabeti, a member of parliament, said in a street speech that one reason for Khamenei’s assassination was that Iran had been caught off guard by the atmosphere of negotiations and had failed to take the necessary measures to protect his life.
Ships are turning off tracking systems and moving through the Strait of Hormuz in small groups, sometimes with guidance from the US military, as the waterway remains dangerous but not fully closed, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The report said some vessels, including large oil and liquefied natural gas tankers, have been sailing “dark” by switching off lights and Automatic Identification System, or AIS, beacons that help ships track one another and avoid collisions.
According to the Wall Street Journal, going dark makes vessels harder to detect electronically and less vulnerable to Iranian attacks, but also increases the risk of accidents in one of the world’s most important energy chokepoints.
Some shipowners told the newspaper they had stayed in contact with US military officials while transiting the strait. The report said US forces use radar, drones and other tools to monitor traffic and advise ships on when to go dark and how to respond to Iranian threats.
The Wall Street Journal said a small number of ships have used a route near Oman that US forces had earlier cleared of mines as part of the short-lived “Project Freedom,” while most recent crossings have followed routes specified by Iran or passed without visible tracking.
The report said US forces cleared a relatively safer path with underwater robots before Project Freedom was halted after Iranian attacks on vessels and Saudi restrictions on US access to bases and airspace.
The Wall Street Journal also cited US Central Command as saying the IRGC had attempted to lay sea mines and fired one-way attack drones in the past week. CENTCOM said the US responded by sinking IRGC mine-laying boats and striking missile and drone sites, describing the actions as defensive.
The report added that ships trying to leave the Persian Gulf face heavy financial pressure, with large crude carriers costing thousands of dollars a day to keep idle, insurance premiums rising sharply and crews receiving war-zone pay.
Before the war, more than 100 ships a day passed through the Strait of Hormuz, the newspaper said. Current traffic remains far below that level, with shipowners waiting for brief windows to move vessels out.
What began as street mourning for Ali Khamenei has become a nightly stage for Iran’s hardliners to attack negotiations with Washington, promote wartime defiance and pressure officials to follow the Supreme Leader’s red lines.
Many of the nightly gatherings – known in Iran’s political and media sphere simply as “the street” – began as collective mourning ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed, in squares and streets across Iranian cities before gradually evolving into highly organized political events.
Speakers, most of them from the hardline camp, describe Iran as the victor of the war and oppose negotiations with the United States in many of these events.
The rallies were initially large, but as their rhetoric became more radical attendance gradually declined. Witnesses say most now attract between 100 and 200 people at a time.
Slogans and placards at the anti-negotiation rallies focus on “fully observing the leader’s conditions” and avenging Ali Khamenei and others killed in US and Israeli attacks.
Pro-government "janfada" volunteers' motorcycle parade in Tehran on May 22.
What began as street mourning for Ali Khamenei has become a nightly stage for Iran’s hardliners to attack negotiations with Washington, promote wartime defiance and pressure officials to follow the Supreme Leader’s red lines.
Many of the nightly gatherings – known in Iran’s political and media sphere simply as “the street” – began as collective mourning ceremonies for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed, in squares and streets across Iranian cities before gradually evolving into highly organized political events.
Speakers, most of them from the hardline camp, describe Iran as the victor of the war and oppose negotiations with the United States in many of these events.
The rallies were initially large, but as their rhetoric became more radical attendance gradually declined. Witnesses say most now attract between 100 and 200 people at a time.
Slogans and placards at the anti-negotiation rallies focus on “fully observing the leader’s conditions” and avenging Ali Khamenei and others killed in US and Israeli attacks.
Speakers have branded not only moderates such as former Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif but also some conservatives, including Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, head of the negotiating team and an ally of President Masoud Pezeshkian, as “advocates of surrender.”
Social media users say those who favor negotiations and an end to the war do not feel safe attending the rallies or expressing their views there.
The hardline outlet Raja News recently wrote: “The experience of the negotiating team’s mistakes in the Islamabad talks, and the (current) Supreme Leader’s wise decision to halt that flawed process, proved that not ‘unconditional support for negotiators’ but ‘standing firm on the Supreme Leader’s conditions and red lines’ is the people’s primary duty in the arena.”
Amir-Hossein Sabeti, a hardline member of parliament who frequently attends and speaks at the rallies, dismissed negotiations with the United States as futile in a Telegram post on Wednesday.
“The continuation of public gatherings in the streets and demands on officials to preserve the Supreme Leader’s red lines will certainly be influential and will affect officials’ decisions,” he wrote.
He added that lawmakers appear in squares and streets to voice “the people’s demands and the Supreme Leader’s red lines so that no one can easily act against them.”
Journalist Saeed Maleki, reacting to the burning of an effigy of Zarif at one rally in the city of Gorgan earlier this week, described the act as an attempt to break national unity and deepen social divisions.
“How long are we supposed to tolerate this small minority in the streets? If Zarif has committed treason, deal with him. And if he hasn’t, confront this minority before another sedition erupts,” he wrote.
Political analyst Ruhollah Rahimpour told Iran International television that empty streets during a crisis create “a sense of fear and anticipation of disaster.” For that reason, he said, the Islamic Republic attempts to fill public spaces with ceremonies that project a narrative of power.
State media promotion
Television channels run by Iran’s state broadcaster, which is largely controlled by hardliners, have extensively covered the rallies and promoted attendance.
Even so, Mohammad-Hossein Kashkouli, director of Ofogh TV, recently said during a speech at one gathering that the broadcaster was under pressure not to air demonstrators’ slogans and banners.
“Despite the pressure, as long as you remain in the streets, we will stick your placards before their eyes and we will not silence your voices, because the Supreme Leader places hope in your voice,” he said. He added that people would remain in the streets until the Leader himself asked them to leave.
Emphasis on diversity among participants
State and pro-government media have repeatedly emphasized the diversity of participants at the rallies. If a participant appears with looser hijab or an appearance outside the conventional image of government supporters, photos and videos of them are widely circulated.
Images from the gatherings show women and girls without hijab, or wearing forms of hijab that would not normally be accepted in government offices, chanting slogans, waving Islamic Republic flags and even participating in motorcycle parades — despite the government still refusing to issue motorcycle licenses to women.
Many social media users argue that this tolerance reflects not a genuine policy shift but hypocrisy.
Carnival atmosphere
Especially after the ceasefire, many of the gatherings have taken on a carnival-like atmosphere, with families attending alongside children.
Booths and tents set up around streets and squares distribute balloons, ice cream and snacks, reportedly funded voluntarily by participants. Missile mock-ups displayed to attract children are sometimes painted pink. Children’s war-themed drawing activities are also organized.
Since the ceasefire, wedding ceremonies have also become common at the rallies. Clerics perform marriage ceremonies before crowds of spectators. One event in Tehran’s Imam Hossein Square, where 110 couples were married, was broadcast on television.
Weapons training
Recently, some rallies have also included firearms training for participants, including children.
One citizen, in a message sent to Iran International, said: “In Kashan, they’ve set up tents at every intersection and square and are teaching women and children how to shoot and use guns. They are exploiting children who should be kept away from these things.”
The rallies also include registration drives for civilians volunteering to defend the country. Volunteers, both male and female, and of all age groups, are given the title “Janfada,” meaning someone willing to sacrifice their life. State media say there are more than 30 million such volunteers.
Complaints from residents
Many social media users complain about the noise created by participants, who often block streets late into the night with cars and motorcycles while playing religious mourning songs on loudspeakers.
One user on X wrote: “It’s becoming really hard for me to tolerate these flag-waving crowds in the streets. From unnecessary traffic and noise pollution until midnight to the anger caused by discrimination — discrimination in the right to occupy the streets and express opinions, which they enjoy, but not us. For the authorities, we are second-class citizens.”
An Iranian ballistic missile strike on a Kuwaiti air base caused minor injuries to several Americans and seriously damaged two US MQ-9 Reaper drones, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with direct knowledge of the attack.
The person said Kuwait’s air defenses intercepted the Fateh-110 missile, but falling debris struck Ali Al Salem air base. About five people, including contractors and active duty personnel, suffered minor injuries, Bloomberg reported.
One MQ-9 Reaper was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged, according to the report. Bloomberg said the drones cost about $30 million each.
The strike came as President Donald Trump weighs a possible agreement to extend a fragile ceasefire with Iran. Trump held a roughly two-hour Situation Room meeting on Friday but left without announcing a decision.
The report said the Iran war has depleted US stocks of valuable munitions, including JASSM-ER and Tomahawk cruise missiles, as well as THAAD, Patriot PAC-3 and SM-3 Block IIA air defense missiles.
According to the latest Department of Defense casualty report for Operation Epic Fury, the US name for the Iran campaign, 14 Americans have died and 409 have been injured so far.
House of Saud, a geopolitical analysis and intelligence outlet focused on Saudi Arabia, reported that Iran’s wartime management of the Strait of Hormuz has created a tiered access system that pressures Saudi crude exports while allowing some regional partners to keep moving through the waterway.
The outlet said Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority charges Chinese-linked vessels up to $2 million per transit to move Saudi crude through Hormuz, while Indian-flagged tankers are allowed through free under a bilateral arrangement.
According to the analysis, the system is not a full closure of Hormuz but a managed-access regime with three tracks: exemptions for countries such as India, Iraq and Pakistan; tolls for Chinese-linked operators; and enforcement exposure for vessels that do not comply.
House of Saud said the main effect has been on Saudi Arabia’s oil relationship with China, citing market data showing Saudi crude exports to China have fallen by more than 60 percent since the start of the war.
The report said Iran’s approach has made Saudi crude less competitive for Chinese refiners by adding toll, insurance and sanctions-related costs, while Russian pipeline crude reaching China avoids Hormuz entirely.
It also said Saudi Arabia has redirected much of its India-bound crude through the East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea terminal at Yanbu, reducing reliance on Hormuz for that trade. But the outlet argued that the route creates a new concentration risk because it cannot carry all Saudi output and could itself become vulnerable if the conflict expands.
House of Saud said the US Treasury’s recent designation of the Persian Gulf Strait Authority adds another layer of pressure by raising sanctions risks for companies or states dealing with Iran’s Hormuz system.
