In response to the Iranian demands, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified that Israel will reject any American or international request to alter its troop deployment in Lebanon.

By Eliana Fleming, JFeed

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei announced that Iran will not return to diplomatic negotiations with the United States unless Israeli military forces fully withdraw from Lebanon.

The official declaration comes amid active efforts by the White House to restart diplomatic channels and secure a regional framework to ease ongoing military tensions.

The demand outlines Tehran’s primary condition for engaging in bilateral talks with Washington.

Observers noted that Iranian leadership appears to be leveraging American interest in diplomatic resolution to impose heavy diplomatic costs on the coalition and influence operations on the northern front.

In a formal statement released directly to Hezbollah, Mojtaba Khamenei addressed the operational commanders and fighters of the Lebanese group.

“Your letter, my brothers and sons, the believing and brave fighters in proud Hezbollah, which carried the meanings of steadfastness and uprightness for the elevation of the word of Allah, and belief in the promises of the Great Quran, and the goals of Imam Khomeini and the martyred leader Khamenei that instills pride, is a focal point of appreciation and respect,” the statement read.

The Iranian Supreme Leader explicitly addressed the leader of the organization in his public message.

“To the pride of Islam and Muslims, Sheikh Naim Qassem, the respected Secretary General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and all the commanders of Hezbollah and its self sacrificing, patient, and fighting warriors, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah,” Khamenei stated.

In response to the Iranian demands, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clarified that Israel will reject any American or international request to alter its troop deployment in Lebanon beyond the parameters agreed upon during political security meetings.

According to diplomatic sources cited by Reuters, Israeli defense officials communicated to Washington that operational decisions regarding the northern border remain strictly contingent on security guarantees rather than foreign negotiations.

The strategic deadlock highlights growing friction between diplomatic initiatives led by Washington and tactical objectives held by regional allies.

Iranian political strategists continue to insist that any future maritime or nuclear agreements remain tied to a complete cessation of Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon.

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Iranian security authorities are investigating whether human infiltration contributed to the intelligence breach, the foreign minister said.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he narrowly escaped an Israeli airstrike at the start of the war after meeting in the same compound where Ali Khamenei was later assassinated, while also acknowledging that Israel and the United States appeared to possess detailed intelligence on the whereabouts of Iran’s senior leadership.

Speaking during a more than 90-minute interview with Iranian journalist Javad Moghouei, Araghchi recounted being with Ali Hejazi, chief of staff to former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when the strike occurred.

“I was with Ali Hejazi, chief of staff to [former] Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at nine o’clock, and we were finally going over a report on the negotiations,” Araghchi recalled.

“I happened to have reached the part describing the heavy wartime atmosphere… then suddenly, there was an attack.”

Araghchi said the strike left “everything … in a state of ruin” before security personnel escorted him away from the compound.

He also said Israel and the United States appeared to have highly accurate intelligence on the locations and movements of Iran’s senior officials, allowing them to target the country’s leadership.

“This coincidence, this insight, and the fact that it happened at 9:30 in the morning – I no longer attribute this to technology or artificial factors,” Araghchi said. “I really don’t know what to make of it.”

He said Iranian security authorities are investigating whether human infiltration contributed to the intelligence breach.

“Now the security forces are pursuing this,” Araghchi said.

“I believe this security vulnerability is not only about infiltration and data theft. Sometimes it also affects the orientation of decision-making, and even worse, it influences and shapes our psychological environment.”

Elsewhere in the interview, Araghchi said he has never met Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is widely believed to have assumed a central role in Iran’s leadership following the war.

Asked about his relationship with Mojtaba Khamenei, Araghchi replied: “I never have [met him]. I haven’t seen him during this time. I don’t think anyone except maybe one or a few people have seen him.”

His remarks highlighted the secrecy surrounding Mojtaba Khamenei’s position within the Islamic Republic.

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The foreign minister said Khamenei’s appointment as supreme leader was intended to signal continuity in Iran’s policies following the death of his father.

By JNS

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he has not met the Islamic Republic’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, describing contact with the Islamic Republic’s new leader as limited to a small circle of officials.

“I don’t think many people have, aside from a very small number,” he said during an interview with Iranian journalist Javad Mogooyi.

Araghchi also said he had never communicated directly with Khamenei.

“Only indirectly, from what I’ve heard from others,” he said. “Personally, I’ve never interacted with him. I’ve seen him from a distance a few times at public gatherings, but we’ve never had a conversation.”

The foreign minister said Khamenei’s appointment as supreme leader was intended to signal continuity in Iran’s policies following the death of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment is “a very important message to the world that there would be no change in the regime’s policies and ideals,” Araghchi said.

According to the Middle East Forum, Araghchi said that “the regime would collapse if all members of the Supreme National Security Council are hit, which is why they never met at once during the war.”

He added that Iran had long planned to close the Strait of Hormuz if the United States targeted the supreme leader.

“From the beginning, it had been agreed that, if the supreme leader had been a target, the strait would close,” Araghchi said.

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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is reportedly issuing statements in the name of Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after he left the country.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is no longer inside the country and recent statements attributed to him were written by senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officials, according to an Israeli security official cited Sunday by the Saudi broadcaster Al Hadath.

The official provided no evidence for the claim and did not identify the country where Khamenei was purportedly staying. Iran did not immediately confirm or respond to the report, which could not be independently verified.

According to the Israeli official, Khamenei has become completely disconnected from developments inside Iran, leaving IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi and other senior officers to compose statements in his name and present an appearance of leadership continuity.

The allegation would represent a significant escalation from previous reports describing Khamenei as isolated in a secret location with extremely restricted communications. Earlier American intelligence reporting said messages reached him through what officials described as “a labyrinth of couriers,” but did not indicate that he had left Iran.

Questions surrounding Khamenei’s whereabouts, health and authority have persisted since he succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei, following the previous supreme leader’s death in US-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28.

The younger Khamenei was reportedly injured in the same attack and has not made a confirmed public appearance since his appointment on March 8. He was also absent from the extensive funeral ceremonies held for his father earlier this month, despite reports that he had sought permission to attend.

Iranian officials attributed his absence to injuries and the danger that a public appearance could allow Israel to locate or assassinate him. President Masoud Pezeshkian said in May that he had met Khamenei and that the supreme leader’s condition was improving.

The IRGC published what it described as a new photograph of Khamenei on July 11 and said he was in “complete health.” The image did not resolve doubts over his location or the extent to which he was personally directing government decisions.

Iranian state media have instead issued a succession of written messages attributed to the supreme leader. In a statement released Saturday, Khamenei purportedly said repeated American violations of a memorandum signed with Tehran had shown that President Donald Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.”

The statement also warned that Iran and the regional “resistance front” had “unforgettable lessons” for the United States as fighting between the two countries intensified.

The Israeli official cited by Al Hadath claimed those and other messages were not written by Khamenei, but by Vahidi and members of the Revolutionary Guard seeking to conceal the leader’s absence and maintain the appearance of a functioning command structure.

No independent evidence has emerged establishing who prepared or approved the written statements. Reuters reported earlier this month that senior Iranian sources believed Khamenei was continuing to make decisions while recovering, even though he was not well enough to appear publicly.

His prolonged absence has nevertheless become an increasingly serious political problem for the Islamic Republic. Iran’s supreme leader is constitutionally the country’s highest authority, with control over the armed forces, intelligence apparatus, judiciary and major elements of foreign and domestic policy.

Khamenei entered the office without the public political history or senior religious standing possessed by his predecessors. His influence before becoming supreme leader was largely exercised behind the scenes through his father’s office and his close relationships with Revolutionary Guard commanders.

Those ties have fueled speculation that the IRGC is exercising unprecedented control over the state while the supreme leader remains hidden.

“The internal divisions in Iran are deep and threaten the very existence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” the Israeli official told Al Hadath.

The official also claimed that Iranian operatives had prepared a sophisticated plan to assassinate senior Israeli figures in central Tel Aviv in retaliation for Ali Khamenei’s death.

No details were provided about the intended targets, the alleged method of attack or whether any suspects had been arrested. Israeli authorities have not publicly announced the disruption of such a plot.

Iran and its allied organizations have repeatedly threatened to avenge the elder Khamenei’s killing. Vahidi said earlier this month that pursuing those responsible for the US-Israeli operation would remain a permanent Iranian priority.

The Israeli source separately claimed that Washington does not want Israel participating in offensive operations against Iran, even in response to an Iranian attack.

The United States has not publicly confirmed such a restriction.

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Iran continues to consider Hezbollah its most important regional asset.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran has instructed Hezbollah and other regional proxies to prepare for a broader and more severe conflict as fighting between the United States and Iran intensifies, Lebanon’s Nidaa Al Watan newspaper reported Friday.

The instructions were delivered during meetings in Tehran held on the sidelines of the recent funeral of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed when the US and Israel launched the war with Iran at the end of February, the newspaper reported.

Iranian officials told leaders of the “Axis of Resistance,” including Hezbollah, to prioritize military preparations and warned that the current period of waiting was ending.

The directive came after consecutive days of US strikes on Iranian infrastructure and retaliatory Iranian drone attacks across the Persian Gulf.

The US military struck bridges, airports and military targets inside Iran, while Tehran attacked US military bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar and targeted commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a similar warning, suggesting that Iran’s regional proxies could expand their attacks.

“Now that the American enemy seeks to ignite further war, impose even heavier costs, and suffer even greater disgrace, it should know that the noble Iranian nation and the Axis of Resistance have unforgettable lessons in store for it,” he said.

Iran continues to consider Hezbollah its most important regional asset. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is reportedly attempting to resupply the Lebanese terrorist group with advanced drones, including first-person-view systems and fiber-optic hardware.

Israel has largely remained on the sidelines during the latest exchanges between Washington and Tehran.

However, the reported Iranian directive raises the possibility that Hezbollah could become more directly involved in the fighting, potentially drawing Israel into the escalating conflict.

The order to prepare for wider operations signals that Tehran is seeking to place its regional proxy network on a stronger military footing as the confrontation with the United States expands beyond attacks inside Iran.

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Mojtaba Khamenei said the US should know that the “Iranian nation and the Axis of Resistance have unforgettable lessons in store for it.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared the previous memorandum of understanding to end the conflict “useless” on Saturday, accusing the United States of repeatedly violating the agreement, as the U.S. military carried out a seventh consecutive night of strikes and President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire over.

The U.S. military said it conducted its seventh straight night of strikes from Friday into Saturday. Iran responded by targeting U.S. assets in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.

In a statement, Khamenei said the memorandum of understanding no longer held value because of what he described as repeated U.S. violations.

“The repeated violations by the Great Satan of the memorandum of understanding have once again proven to everyone how worthless and unreliable the signature of the President of the United States is, and that bullying, hegemonic ambition, and savagery are inseparable elements of the American way,” Khamenei wrote in a statement.

He also warned of additional consequences for the United States.

“Now that the American enemy seeks to ignite further war, impose even heavier costs, and suffer even greater disgrace, it should know that the noble Iranian nation and the Axis of Resistance have unforgettable lessons in store for it,” he added.

Khamenei continued, “The bravery of the fighters of Islam and the courage of the people of the southern region in recent days have already demonstrated examples of those lessons.”

During the strikes last week, Trump also declared the ceasefire over, signaling that the previous arrangement was no longer in effect.

However, on Thursday by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who said talks with Iran were still continuing.

The latest developments reflected an escalation in both military operations and public rhetoric.

The US military said Saturday that two American soldiers were killed and another remains missing following Iranian missile and drone attacks on Jordan, marking the latest US casualties as fighting between Washington and Tehran continued into a seventh consecutive night.

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The last four months were the exhaustion of a method rather than a failure of nerve.

By Pierre Rehov, Gatestone Institute

The West has long nurtured the conviction that a regime dies with its ruler.

On February 28, American and Israeli aircraft, in a joint operation prepared over months, killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei together with the chief of staff of the armed forces, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the defense minister, and Khamenei’s closest adviser, thereby erasing the command structure of the Islamic Republic in a single morning.

US President Donald Trump promised to “annihilate their navy” and level Iran’s missile industry.

Across the West, and among Iranians whose January uprising had been drowned in blood only weeks earlier, an immense hope took hold. The theocracy, at last, seemed gone.

Ten days later, the Assembly of Experts installed Mojtaba Khamenei—who was severely wounded or possibly “eliminated” as well—in his father’s chair.

Since February 28, he has not been seen in public. The Islamic Republic, for its part, had transmitted itself like a monarchy, dynastically, while the missiles were still in the air.

This week, as his father’s coffin crossed Iran and Iraq in a six-day state funeral, with Mojtaba Khamenei still nowhere to be seen, crowds chanted for revenge and hanged the American president in effigy.

The clerics always knew what Washington seems to have taken four months to accept: the regime was never lodged in one man but rather in a clergy, a security apparatus, and a doctrine, and all three came through the bombs intact.

What followed inside Iran removed any remaining doubt. In June alone, 141 executions were recorded, the overwhelming majority carried out in silence, without announcement, without due process, and without notice to families or lawyers.

Between mid-March and late April, at least 22 political prisoners were hanged, ten of them protesters seized during the January uprising, at a speed of one execution every two days, with 17-year-olds now on death row in addition to them.

Since February 28, more than 6,000 people have been arbitrarily arrested under the official cover of “wartime conditions,” while the population endured an 88-day internet shutdown, the longest ever recorded anywhere. Decapitated, the regime kills more than before.

Militarily, the Islamic Republic of Iran lost almost everything it was possible to lose: its leadership, its air defenses, its nuclear installations, and its navy ships.

Its answer was neither surrender nor counteroffensive but the clock.

Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz, mined it, installed “tolls” and fees—for “protection”—attacked shipping, then settled in to wait, reading the American calendar with more attention than Washington was reading Iran.

Trump wanted a deal, said so openly, and for four months gave Tehran every chance a negotiating partner has ever been given.

Deadlines were set for March 21, then March 23, then April 7, and each time extended. Talks in Islamabad collapsed. A naval blockade followed, then an escort operation, announced and suspended within days.

Tehran had learned to read the expiration date stamped on every American threat.

The non-binding Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding, signed on June 17 — the American signature added during a dinner at Versailles—reads less like terms imposed on a defeated enemy than like the wish list of a victorious Iran.

Its 14 points commit the United States to lifting its naval blockade within 30 days, ending sanctions, releasing frozen Iranian assets, and assembling with regional partners a reconstruction plan worth at least $300 billion.

Iran, in exchange, reaffirmed that it would not develop nuclear weapons and agreed to leave its nuclear program exactly as it stands—meaning with its nuclear installations and centrifuges to enrich uranium safely under Pickaxe Mountain.

Dismantling Iran’s nuclear program appears nowhere in the text. In addition, 440 kg (970 lbs) of uranium enriched to 60%—nearly at weapons grade—are to be “blended down,” presumably later to be enriched again.

Enrichment was deferred to a final agreement to be negotiated within 60 days. The enforcement mechanism was summarized by the president himself: “If it doesn’t get done in 60 days… we go back to bombing.”

The ink was barely dry before the violations resumed. Three days after the signing, Iran, citing Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, declared the Strait of Hormuz closed once more.

The follow-up talks in Switzerland were postponed. When they finally opened, Iranian negotiators conceded nothing on enrichment.

Hezbollah, which entered the war two days after Khamenei’s death, kept attacking Israeli forces in Lebanon, thereby handing Tehran a permanent pretext to shut the strait whenever the negotiations required pressure.

Last week, the pattern ran its course. Iran asked the US for a special week of quiet for the funeral of Khamenei—then began firing missiles at commercial ships in the strait.

On June 6, Washington reimposed the oil sanctions it had waived. Iran launched missiles at American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait.

At the NATO summit in Turkey, Trump finally said, “I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them anymore. They’re scum.”

The Iranian foreign minister had spent the previous day invoking paragraph 13 of the MOU and demanding that Washington honor its signature: an arsonist quoting the fire code while the tankers burned.

The last four months were the exhaustion of a method rather than a failure of nerve.

The Trump method flattered the adversary, let him believe he had won, dragged him to the table under threat of force, changed course without warning and staged unpredictability as strategy.

All that might work remarkably well in the West, where leaders answer to electorates, markets, and quarterly reports. It presupposes, however, an interlocutor who counts costs the way Washington counts costs.

The Islamic Republic counts by another arithmetic, drawn from its revolutionary jurisprudence. Time costs nothing, and survival itself, especially against a “Great Satan,” the US, is a triumph.

Deceiving the enemy across a negotiating table carries doctrinal sanction, not shame. Honor and pride outrank comfort, prosperity, and the future itself, and above every calculation sits religion and a commitment to take down the West.

A power such as the US that cries wolf on Tuesday and extends the deadline on Thursday teaches a system such as Iran’s exactly one lesson: that the wolf does not exist.

Iran’s rulers read the American desire for a deal, especially before a midterm election, as weakness, which, by that arithmetic, it was.

Trump, who kept repeating that he wanted a deal—in that way raising the price for one—seemed genuinely trying to test ways not to destroy more of Iran. Last week, he gave up on that.

The return to peace through strength comes as a relief. Israel absorbed Trump’s and Vice President JD Vance’s insults while Washington negotiated. Each time Tehran wanted to make a point, Gulf capitals were struck.

Thousands of sailors are still stranded aboard ships trapped in the Gulf. Brave Iranians who rose in January went to the gallows while the world discussed sanctions relief.

The Strait of Hormuz and no nuclear weapons for Iran—ever—remain key. The Pentagon has held the answer since March: plans to seize Kharg Island, the terminal through which 90% of Iranian crude oil passes.

Marine expeditionary units were moved into the region seemingly for such operations, and the decision so long deferred is now the only card left.

Round three has begun. After Khamenei, nothing has changed in Iran, where the doctrine, the gallows, and the wager on Western fatigue are those of February. What finally changed, last week, is Washington.

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Iran is escalating its threats against President Donald Trump, promising revenge for the death of Ali Khamenei.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s new supreme leader has vowed to avenge the death of his father, Ali Khamenei, as Iranian officials and regime supporters openly threaten to assassinate President Donald Trump and other figures blamed for the former leader’s killing.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei declared that Tehran was committed to avenging his father and others killed during the two wars with the United States and Israel.

“Tehran is committed to avenging your blood and the blood of all those killed in the two wars,” Khamenei said in a message issued following his father’s burial. “This revenge is the will of our nation and it must be done soon.”

Iranian state television described the revenge campaign as both a national demand and a religious mission, with Khamenei suggesting that Tehran could receive support from sympathetic forces around the world.

The warning followed days of increasingly explicit assassination threats during funeral ceremonies for Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint US-Israeli strike on Feb. 28.

Crowds carried banners declaring, “We will kill Trump,” while mourners chanted for revenge against the American president.

At the Tehran procession, a large poster depicted Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as wanted men, with crosshairs placed over their images and the words “There will be blood” and “Kill Trump.”

The public threats came as Israel reportedly provided Washington with new intelligence indicating that Iranian hardliners were considering a fresh attempt to assassinate Trump.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the intelligence suggested that a new plot was being developed. Other US officials offered a more cautious assessment, saying the information may have concerned discussions among Iranian officials about killing Trump rather than a fully developed operational plan.

Trump acknowledged the danger earlier in the week, saying he appeared on numerous Iranian assassination lists.

“I’m on every list,” Trump said. “I saw this morning, I’m on every single one of their lists. And so far, I guess I’ve been a little bit lucky, but that maybe doesn’t last very long.”

The threat reportedly prompted additional security precautions during Trump’s recent trip to Turkey. The president unexpectedly returned aboard an older Air Force One aircraft rather than the newly renovated jet that had transported him there.

Reports said the switch was recommended by the Secret Service as a precaution, although Trump denied that it was connected to a security concern.

Iran has threatened Trump for years over his decision during his first term to order the 2020 strike that killed Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.

Tehran has also previously targeted former senior Trump administration officials, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former national security adviser John Bolton and former Iran envoy Brian Hook.

The death of Ali Khamenei, however, appears to have given the regime a new justification for escalating its revenge campaign.

Iranian officials, state-controlled media and government supporters have portrayed retaliation as a national and religious obligation that remains separate from any ceasefire or diplomatic negotiations.

Trump responded Friday by warning that any attempt to assassinate him would trigger a devastating American military response.

“1000 Missiles are Locked and Loaded and aimed at the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He said thousands more could immediately follow if Tehran attempts to kill the sitting US president.

Trump added that the US military was “ready, willing, and able” to “completely decimate and destroy all areas of Iran.”

Despite the escalating threats, the United States and Iran continued sending conflicting signals about negotiations.

Trump said Iran’s leadership had asked Washington to continue talks, even after he declared that the ceasefire was over following renewed Iranian attacks against vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks,’” Trump wrote. “We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”

Iran denied requesting renewed negotiations. The regime-linked Fars News Agency cited a source close to the negotiating team as saying talks would not resume until Washington backed down from its positions.

The United States is also demanding that Iran stop attacking vessels and permit unrestricted, toll-free shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Oman for talks over a possible mechanism governing ship traffic through the strategic waterway.

However, Iran’s threats to avenge Khamenei’s death—and the intelligence concerning a possible plot against Trump—have raised serious questions about whether meaningful diplomacy can continue while Tehran openly discusses assassinating the American president.

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Not only is it clear that the new supreme leader no longer holds the same authority as his father, but Mojtaba’s complete public absence has only deepened the power vacuum.

By Saeid Golkar, Kasra Aarabi, Middle East Forum

The Iranian regime’s oligarchic clans are at war with each other—and this conflict may soon spiral beyond control.

This fight is not over ideology or the future direction of the Islamic Republic: all the oligarchic clans are Islamist; some wear turbans, others wear military uniforms, and some wear suits.

In other words, they all subscribe to the core tenets of Shia Islamism in Iran: the forceful imposition of Sharia law domestically, support for the so-called Axis of Resistance militia network, anti-Americanism, and the goal of eradicating Israel (driven by innate anti-Semitism).

But they are competing to protect and advance their power and economic interests amid the vacuum that emerged after the elimination of Ali Khamenei, the former supreme leader, who had operated as the godfather of these clans.

The latest manifestation of this infighting has erupted in the most unlikely of places: the Assembly of Experts—a body of 88 clerics who, in theory, appoint and oversee the authority of the supreme leader.

Last week, 73 members of the normally silent assembly made an unusual public intervention in the form of a statement on the ongoing negotiations with the United States and the recently-signed Memorandum of Understanding

The statement de facto criticized Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) over its conduct of the negotiations with Washington, suggesting the officials had moved beyond the “red lines” of the supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei.

It said in Farsi, “All officials should respect that, in the system of Velayat-e Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist), the opinion and directives of the Supreme Leader are decisive. Once informed of the Leader’s definitive view, no official may act contrary to it.”

After its publication, Ayatollah Hashem Hosseini Busheri, chairman of the Assembly of Experts’ secretariat and spokesperson, immediately stated that he was completely unaware of the statement and that, while he did not oppose its content, its signatories had broken convention and published it without coordination with him.

Remarkably, however, senior members of the secretariat—including Ayatollah Movahedi Kermani, Ayatollah Arafi, Ayatollah Araki, and Ayatollah Rajavi—were amongst the signatories of the statement. In fact, only three members of the secretariat had not signed the statement, including Hosseini Busheri.

The very fact that such elite infighting is now unfolding openly within the regime’s most important clerical body is particularly telling.

The Assembly of Experts is effectively representative of the regime’s clerical class. First and foremost, it shields and advances the interests of the clergy, which have long been guaranteed by the supremacy of the position of the supreme leader.

When Ali Khamenei was alive, this power was beyond dispute. But the same cannot be said of Mojtaba, his son and successor, in charge.

Not only is it clear that the new supreme leader no longer holds the same authority as his father, but Mojtaba’s complete public absence has only deepened the power vacuum that has emerged after his predecessor’s death.

This has heightened the anxiety of the Assembly of Experts, which fears its political and economic interests would be at risk should the supreme leader’s position be undermined.

Their statement, therefore, reveals not only infighting between the different oligarch clans of the Islamist regime but also that the clerical class is scrambling to preserve its political and economic privileges in the face of an increasingly uncertain succession.

For now, these divisions over power and money have been managed and contained in the name of Mojtaba.

His name still serves as a form of political glue. Even in his absence, different factions can invoke his authority to discipline rivals, justify decisions, and avoid a more open confrontation over the regime’s leadership.

But this arrangement is fragile because authority that is not visibly embodied cannot hold for long, particularly in a regime where the leader’s personal presence has historically been central to elite management.

If Mojtaba fails to appear at his father’s funeral, it will dramatically intensify speculation about his physical condition and could accelerate factional efforts to prepare for a second succession crisis.

Such a moment would not merely raise questions about one man’s fate.

It could expose the deeper structural crisis facing the Islamic Republic: that a regime built around the absolute authority of one man may no longer have a leader capable of imposing order on the very factions that depend on his authority for their own survival.

The Assembly of Experts’ intervention is therefore more than an isolated episode; it is a sign that the Islamic Republic’s internal balance of power is shifting.

The clerical class, the IRGC-linked networks, the security bureaucracy, and political-economic factions are all maneuvering to protect their interests in a system whose central source of authority has been weakened.

While these rivalries may remain contained in the short term, the post-Ali Khamenei order is increasingly vulnerable to open elite conflict.

What appears today as a dispute over negotiations may soon become a broader struggle over who truly rules the Islamic Republic.

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“Any Iranian leader who again advances plans for Israel’s destruction will also be eliminated,” Katz warned.

By World Israel News Staff

Defense Minister Israel Katz issued a direct warning to Iran’s leadership following the funeral of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, declaring that any Iranian leader who seeks to revive plans to destroy Israel will meet a similar fate.

Speaking after chants of “Death to Trump” were heard during the funeral procession in Tehran, Katz said the slogans exposed the true nature of the Iranian regime.

“The calls of ‘Death to Trump’ during the funeral are disgraceful and demonstrate the true character of the ayatollah regime, beyond the smiles and diplomatic gestures,” he said. “Any Iranian leader who again advances plans for Israel’s destruction will also be eliminated.”

According to Israeli news outlet Walla, Israel’s defense establishment closely monitored the funeral, which drew senior Iranian officials, as well as leaders of Tehran-backed terrorist organizations.

Security officials reportedly viewed parts of the ceremony as cementing the status of Mojtaba Khamenei, who succeeded his father as Iran’s supreme leader.

The report said Israeli defense officials continue to assess that Iran is steadily rebuilding its military capabilities while working to stabilize its sanctions-hit economy.

Although internet access is gradually being restored following wartime restrictions, officials believe the regime remains firmly in control of the domestic situation.

At the same time, the IDF is continuing preparations for the possibility that hostilities with Iran could resume or that intelligence could reveal an imminent threat requiring immediate military action.

According to the report, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reviews operational plans on a weekly basis, while Military Intelligence continues expanding and updating its target bank in preparation for any future confrontation.

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Critics argued that Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, known as the “Judge of Death,” conflicted with Khamenei’s position on the MoU with the United States.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has reappointed Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i to another term as head of the judiciary, despite recent reports that he would be replaced.

The appointment came after Iran International reported last week, citing anonymous sources, that Eje’i would leave office at the end of his five-year term as part of a broader restructuring of Iran’s leadership.

The report said the anticipated change was tied to efforts by the new supreme leader to install officials viewed as more closely aligned with him rather than to judicial reform.

Instead, Khamenei renewed Eje’i’s appointment.

According to the Tehran Times, the supreme leader said in a statement, “With appreciation for your valuable and sincere efforts, and pursuant to Article 157 of the Constitution, I appoint you as head of the Judiciary.”

The decision follows criticism of Eje’i from some hardline figures after the names of Supreme National Security Council members who voted in favor of the memorandum of understanding with the United States became public.

Those critics argued that Eje’i’s vote conflicted with Khamenei’s publicly stated position after the supreme leader wrote in a letter that he had, in principle, held a different view of the memorandum of understanding.

Despite the criticism, Khamenei opted to keep Eje’i in the post rather than appoint a successor.

According to the Tehran Times, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf welcomed the decision to extend Eje’i’s tenure.

Iran International had reported that senior leadership was expected to replace the judiciary chief as part of a wider reorganization following the recent war.

Citing sources who requested anonymity, the outlet said the anticipated changes would affect key state institutions and were intended to install officials considered more closely aligned with the new supreme leader.
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Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since his father and several family members were killed in an airstrike on Feb. 28.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has been prevented by security officials from attending his father Ali Khamenei’s funeral because of concerns he could be targeted.

Citing two members of the Revolutionary Guards and a person involved in organizing the funeral,the New York Times reported that Mojtaba Khamenei won’t be attending his father’s funeral.

He asked Iranian officials for permission to attend the ceremonies and lead the funeral prayer over his father’s body.

The report said security officials rejected the request out of concern that Israel could attempt to assassinate him or use the appearance to determine his location.

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since his father and several family members were killed in an airstrike on Feb. 28.

The body of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei arrived at the Imam Khomeini complex in Tehran on Friday ahead of funeral events scheduled to take place between July 4 and July 9.

Iranian state media reported that coffins containing the bodies of Khamenei and several family members have been placed on display in Tehran before funeral processions begin.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has invited world leaders and official delegations to attend the multi-city funeral and burial ceremonies. The Times of India reported that invitations were extended to leaders from Russia, China, India and Pakistan.

Iranian officials have also warned against any military action during the funeral period. Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said in a statement carried by state media: “We warn the enemies of Iran, especially the U.S. and the Zionist regime (Israel), to avoid any miscalculation and ⁠to think about the harsh retaliation our armed forces would make to any threat and aggression against our country.”

The ceremonies are expected to draw crowds numbering in the millions. Iranian state media has said it remains unclear whether Mojtaba Khamenei will ultimately attend any part of the funeral following the reported security decision to keep him away from the public events.

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Iran’s Jewish community, estimated at several thousand members, is one of the country’s officially recognized religious minorities.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Representatives of Iran’s Jewish community said they will join the official funeral ceremonies for former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, while disclosing that they recently appealed to his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, to address anti-Jewish rhetoric that had surfaced in Iranian media and public discourse.

Homayoun Sameyah, the Jewish member of Iran’s parliament, said the community’s message to the new supreme leader called for preserving the longstanding official distinction between Judaism and Zionism. He said the request followed concern over language that community leaders believed blurred that distinction.

The outreach was followed by a noticeable shift, Sameyah said.

“Fortunately, after that, these phenomena decreased significantly, and this distinction received greater attention in the media and official slogans,” he said.

Sameyah said the Jewish community would be represented at memorial events organized for the late supreme leader together with delegates from Iran’s other officially recognized religious minorities. He added that diplomats, political officials, and religious leaders are also expected to participate in the ceremonies.

“In coordination with officials from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance and representatives of the religious minority communities, we will participate in the funeral and memorial events for the leader of the Islamic Revolution,” he said.

Discussing Ali Khamenei’s legacy, Sameyah said the late leader continued a policy established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of differentiating Iran’s Jewish community from the Zionist movement.

“As Ayatollah Khomeini always distinguished between the Jews of Iran and the Zionist movement, the late leader continued this approach and did not allow misconceptions about the Jewish community to spread,” Sameyah said.

He also said directives issued during Ali Khamenei’s tenure instructed state institutions to protect the rights of recognized religious minorities.

“During Ayatollah Khamenei’s leadership, directives were issued to safeguard the rights of religious minorities in various institutions, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Tehran Municipality, and other government bodies,” he said.

Sameyah said Iran’s Jewish community considers itself an integral part of the country and expressed hope that “under the leadership of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the path of respect, peace, and mutual understanding among all religions and sectors of society will continue.”

Iran’s Jewish community, estimated at several thousand members, is one of the country’s officially recognized religious minorities and has a reserved seat in the Iranian parliament.

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei struck a defiant tone just hours after Tehran signed its memorandum of understanding with the United States, warning that Iran will never submit to Washington’s “excessive demands.”

Khamenei revealed he had opposed the agreement in principle and approved it only after receiving personal guarantees from President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iran’s negotiating team that the country’s interests and the “Resistance Front” would be protected. He insisted it was President Donald Trump who was “desperate” to secure the deal, not Iran.

The comments underscore the fragile nature of the agreement. Even as the two sides begin a 60-day negotiating period, Tehran is already drawing red lines, insisting its ballistic missile program is non-negotiable, its enriched uranium will remain inside Iran, and warning that continued Israeli operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon would be viewed as a violation of the agreement.

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Iran’s Fars agency said Trump sought changes to the draft after becoming frustrated by delays from Mojtaba Khamenei in granting final approval.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iranian media reported Thursday a “high probability” Tehran will approve a proposed agreement with the United States.

President Donald Trump said the sides could reach final understandings within days and potentially sign the deal in Europe by the end of the weekend.

Speaking at a White House event, Trump said, “We made a wonderful deal” with Iran, while noting that the agreement has not yet been finalized. “We’ll sign soon,” he said. “The documents are in a fairly final stage.”

Trump said the agreement could be signed this weekend, “probably” in Europe.

He added that Vice President J.D. Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff would attend a signing ceremony if one takes place. Trump also said he spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The developments followed a report by Iran’s Fars News Agency that although “it appears the U.S. has approved the proposal submitted by Iran, there is a high probability that the regime will approve that proposal.”

Fars reported that a draft memorandum of understanding between the negotiating teams was awaiting final approval in Tehran and Washington.

The agency said Trump had previously sought changes to the draft after becoming frustrated by delays from Mojtaba Khamenei in granting final approval.

According to Fars, Iran responded that it would not consider the revised text.

The report added that Qatar entered the negotiations on Wednesday and informed the parties that the United States was withdrawing the additional demands and returning to the original draft, which remained pending final approval.

The negotiations are focused on a short memorandum of understanding intended to end the war.

Iran has insisted that the war end “on all fronts,” particularly in Lebanon, while the proposed arrangement would also reopen the Strait of Hormuz and provide for the gradual easing of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and certain sanctions relief.

The memorandum would not resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear program.

Instead, it would launch a separate negotiating process on future restrictions. Previous reports indicated those talks would continue for 60 days.

The New York Times reported that Pakistani mediators told Trump, “We have a deal,” while noting the claim could not be independently verified from the Iranian side. CNN separately reported that Qatari-mediated talks in Tehran had succeeded in “narrowing gaps” on several outstanding issues.

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Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei reportedly lost contact with the military amid major escalation with Israel.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, lost contact with parts of the military chain of command during the latest exchange of strikes between Israel and Iran, according to a report Monday that raised new questions about Tehran’s wartime command-and-control system.

Iran International reported that Iranian military commanders have been unable to reach Khamenei since Sunday night, as Iran launched missiles toward Israel following Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs and later inside Iran.

A source familiar with the developments told the opposition-linked outlet that the Iranian missile fire was likely carried out under pre-set military protocols rather than direct coordination with Khamenei’s office.

The source also said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ response to the Israeli strike in Beirut appeared too rapid to have followed a normal exchange of messages with the supreme leader.

The report could not be independently confirmed. Iran has not publicly acknowledged any breakdown in its military communications, and Iranian officials have instead projected readiness for a wider fight.

A senior Iranian military official told Tasnim that Iran was prepared for a prolonged war with Israel and for strikes against American interests in the region, saying the necessary preparations had already been made.

The claim emerged during the most serious direct clash between Israel and Iran since the April 8 ceasefire.

Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel late Sunday and early Monday, sending residents in several areas, including Jerusalem, into shelters. Israel said its air defenses worked to intercept the incoming missiles.

Israel responded with strikes on military targets in western and central Iran.

The IDF said the targets included military assets belonging to the Iranian regime. Separate reports said explosions were heard in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Tabriz and Kermanshah. Israel also said it struck targets at a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr, in southwestern Iran, saying materials produced there were used in weapons manufacturing.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry accused Israel of acting in coordination with Washington, despite US statements that the American military was not involved in Israel’s strikes.

“No one believes this was carried out without coordination,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said. “The developments over the past 24 hours are intensifying the existing disruption to the diplomatic track.”

Baghaei said the escalation would damage messages being exchanged through Pakistani mediation and deepen mistrust between Tehran and Washington.

“The tensions will certainly lead to greater suspicion and deeper mistrust,” he said. “The exchange of messages with the American side has already been conducted in an atmosphere of profound distrust.”

“It is clear that Israeli military actions in the region cannot be separated from American policy. The disruption to the diplomatic track stems from the Americans’ contradictory positions, alongside confusing conduct and statements.”

The United States has sought to contain the escalation while continuing efforts to reach a deal with Tehran.

President Donald Trump urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to retaliate after the Iranian missile barrage, but Israel proceeded with strikes on Iranian territory. Trump later called on both sides to stop firing.

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