Iran has endured a punishing year marked by drought, an energy crisis and soaring inflation. But if Iranians were hoping their president might offer solutions, Pezeshkian suggested they should not bother. In a string of remarkably candid public speeches in recent weeks, he said the country was facing insurmountable problems and that he had run out of ideas for how to solve them.

"If anyone can do something, please go ahead and do it," Pezeshkian told students and academics in early December. "I can't do anything. Don't curse me."

In meetings with officials, he admitted the government was "stuck, badly stuck," adding: "From the first day we came in, disasters have been coming down on us, and it hasn't stopped."

He went further, saying Iran's woes were the result of corruption, internal factional infighting and decades of government spending that he described as "what crazy people do," rather than the fault of the US or Israel.

Referring to the fighting during Operation With a Lion, Pezeshkian said that although Iran had launched missiles, Israel's arsenal had proven superior both in quantity and in capability.

"It's true that we had missiles, but theirs were more numerous, more powerful, more accurate and easier to deploy," he said. He added, without elaborating, that in the end it was "the people" who thwarted Israel.

At the same time, Pezeshkian rejected calls for Iran to scale back its missile program, describing it as essential to national defense. "They tell us not to have missiles, while they arm Israel to the teeth so it can come here whenever it wants, destroy everything and leave," he said. "I won't accept that."

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Jebelli made the remarks after a female student, from an audience of conservative students supporting the regime, held up a sign stating that Iranian citizens learned what was happening in the war through the Qatari television channel Al Jazeera and not through the local broadcasting authority. The act prompted the senior official to address the loss of credibility by his organization.

"One thing damaged our credibility, and I wish this issue hadn't come up now so I wouldn't have to mention it," Jebelli said. He added, "One thing damaged our credibility, and that was the shooting down of the F-35 aircraft. Were we in the sky to witness the crash of the fighter jet? Were we behind the defense system? Someone from military sources informed us, and then in the end they understood for some reason that the information was not reliable and gave us another update. Media sources should not stake their credibility on the reliability of other institutions and organizations," Jebelli said.

The reports about shooting down Israeli fighter jets over Iranian skies repeated themselves in Iranian media and were accompanied by bizarre images of crashed aircraft that were distributed on social networks. The images themselves were quickly revealed to be particularly sloppy fakes and the reports about shooting down the stealth aircraft were usually shelved and deleted just hours after they appeared.

Despite the admission of damage to broadcasting credibility, Jebelli continued to claim during his speech that his country succeeded in striking Israel's "computer system" and essentially caused it to cease functioning. Jebelli claimed that "we stunned the world through resistance" and continued to hold the regime's accepted line that the confrontation with Israel in June, which had devastating results for the Iranian leadership, was actually a victory for the Tehran regime.

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The report, which includes images and a video that appears to have been filmed in Israel, shows a bouquet in a clay vase placed inside a car said to belong to the Israeli scientist. The Iranian regime-affiliated news agency Fars News even published what it claimed was the scientist's name.

Attached to the bouquet was a note stating: "Yesterday, you received our bouquet. A harmless object, at first glance. But you noticed its weight, didn't you?"

Israeli authorities have yet to issue an official response.

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The dam, built in 1974 as part of the shah's push to modernize Iran's infrastructure and agriculture, is expected to remain offline for an extended period even if rainfall replenishes the reservoir in the coming months.

The prolonged drought across the Islamic republic is placing additional strain on its economy. Authorities ordered schools, universities and religious institutions in Tehran to shut down after unusually severe air pollution developed as a result of the dry conditions and airborne dust.

Government ministries in Tehran were also instructed to shift two-thirds of their workforce to remote work. Officials told Tasnim these are only initial steps to confront the capital's deteriorating situation and warned that more drastic measures will follow if conditions continue to worsen.

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The website enables the creation of complete profiles for teenagers without any age filtering. Registration data shows a high concentration of underage users in the country's poorest regions, where early marriages remain common. Girls appear primarily between ages 13 and 16, while boys appear between ages 16 and 18.

Iran International, an opposition news site operating outside the country, also published the investigation's findings. The website's manager, Mohammad-Hossein Askari, stated that the activity complies with Iranian law, which sets the minimum marriage age at 13 for girls and 15 for boys.

According to published data, approximately 300,000 people attempted to register on the site, and 70,000 profiles were approved following identity verification and interviews.

In 2021, the Iranian parliament approved the "Population Rejuvenation and Family Protection" law, which imposes penalties on those who "discourage childbirth" or "delay marriages." According to Iran's Statistics Bureau, nearly 26,000 marriages of girls under 15 were registered in 2024, compared to 32,000 the previous year.

Asharq Al-Awsat reporters successfully created a complete profile for a girl born in 2012 (age 13) without any age restrictions or identity barriers.

Profiles examined in the investigation showed that users under 18 are concentrated in economically disadvantaged areas of Iran, where early marriages are a common phenomenon. The site's registration form includes 80 questions and emphasizes adherence to religious commandments, gender roles, political positions, and views on hijab, makeup, and social interactions.

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Sources quoted by the Arab daily said bin Salman explained to Trump that an agreement is needed to ensure stability across the Middle East and warned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government might attempt to disrupt the effort and initiate a new military escalation against Iran.

According to the information provided in the report, the Saudi side contacted Iran's leadership immediately after bin Salman concluded his White House visit. The sides reportedly agreed to hold a high-level meeting within the next 24 hours in Paris between senior Saudi and Iranian officials, followed by Saudi-led shuttle diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.

The sources said bin Salman had asked Iran's National Security Council chief Ali Larijani during their recent meeting in Riyadh about Tehran's position on a Saudi mediation initiative between Iran and Washington. According to the report, Larijani reiterated a positive response but stressed that Iran would not make concessions, especially after what the report described as the Israeli-American war against Iran last June.

The sources added that the Saudi side also discussed the importance of reaching an understanding with Iran to help facilitate reconciliation with Yemen, a point that appeared to face resistance from the pro-Israel American team. According to the report, this was the first time Saudi Arabia expressed concerns to the Americans about what it called a new Israeli gamble aimed at eliminating any chance for regional peace. The report noted that bin Salman and Trump agreed that stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved without an understanding with Iran and that Trump did not oppose the idea.

The developments come amid renewed debate in Tehran over the future of Iran's nuclear capability and the possibility that Western countries might seek to bring the issue before the UN Security Council following Iran's decision to stop working under its agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Koroush Ahmadi, a former diplomat and foreign policy expert, said the IAEA's recent resolution lacks any direct enforcement mechanism and that Iran's stance should therefore be viewed as proportional. Ahmadi told the state-run newspaper Iran that the Western decision not to refer the case to the Security Council may signal a Western message indicating a window of opportunity.

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Documents obtained by the Financial Times provide the first evidence of Moscow engaging Tehran on nuclear knowledge. Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst, told the outlet that Tehran's experts were "seeking laser technology and expertise that could help them validate a nuclear weapon design without conducting a nuclear explosive test".

Iran insists its program is peaceful, while Russia opposes a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic. Before the US and Israel bombed Iran's facilities in June, Washington believed weaponization remained deactivated but noted shortened timelines for potential bomb construction.

DamavandTec, an SPND front company, arranged the St Petersburg travel for Iranian laser specialists last November, documents reviewed by the Financial Times show. They met with Laser Systems, a US-sanctioned Russian firm working on dual-use technology.

Ali Kalvand and DamavandTec had organized previous meetings using diplomatic passports, an August Financial Times investigation found. The US State Department sanctioned them in October for attempting "to procure items applicable to the development of nuclear explosive devices from foreign suppliers" and noting they had "facilitated travel for Iranian nuclear experts to Russia".

Kalvand arranged this second trip following an invitation from Laser Systems director Dmitry Vasilyev for "technological collaboration". While the invitation addressed DamavandTec employees, records reviewed by the Financial Times identify the visitors as physicists from defense-linked Iranian universities.

Andrey Savin of Laser Systems visited Tehran in February 2025 to meet SPND affiliates. Laser Systems holds FSB permits for work on state secrets. DamavandTec operates as a procurement broker for restricted components, according to the US State Department.

The Financial Times previously reported DamavandTec's attempts to acquire tritium for boosting warhead yields. Iran denies seeking weapons. Nicole Grajewski of Carnegie Endowment told the outlet the meetings offer "strong evidence that Russia was assisting Iran in its nuclear weapons-related research, with state-affiliated Russian institutions providing dual-use technology and knowledge transfer".

"This activity looks like it is state sanctioned at a high level on the Russian and Iranian sides," Grajewski added. These revelations follow US-Israeli strikes that damaged but did not destroy Iran's infrastructure, despite Donald Trump claiming the program was "obliterated".

Late September saw the enforcement of penalties after France, Germany, and the UK activated a "snapback" mechanism, referencing Iran's "significant non-performance" of its nuclear commitments.

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According to sources who spoke with The Telegraph, Iranian officials now face a dangerous situation where distinguishing genuine loyalty from Israeli infiltration has become nearly impossible. One senior Iranian official told The Telegraph: "Many officials, including within the Sepah [IRGC], are doing everything they can to convince the system that they haven't done anything wrong, since it's obvious to everyone now that the Israelis have massively infiltrated several agencies."

Officials fear Israeli agents embedded within security services may be filing false accusations to eliminate loyal personnel. An Iranian official interviewed by The Telegraph explained: "Trust is one issue, but what's becoming an even greater concern is the growing number of people who are, in one way or another, betraying the system."

The twelve-day Iran-Israel war in June 2025 exposed extensive Israeli Mossad penetration of Iran's security apparatus. Israel's operation killed several top IRGC commanders, including IRGC chief Hossein Salami and armed forces chief Mohammed Bagheri, demonstrating the depth of intelligence infiltration. Iranian officials now face growing paranoia as they struggle to distinguish genuine threats from false accusations designed to remove loyal insiders.​

Iran has reached record execution levels in 2025, with over 1,000 people executed by September – the highest figure in at least 15 years, The Telegraph reports. The death of Omid Sarlak in November, whose bullet-riddled body was found hours after he posted a video burning Supreme Leader Khamenei's image, sparked widespread protests with mourners chanting "Death to Khamenei" and burning images of the leader.​

Iran faces its worst drought in decades, with the Amir Kabir dam northwest of Tehran at only 8% capacity. Rainfall has decreased by 89% compared to long-term averages, and the number of dams below 5% capacity has increased from 8 to 32, The Telegraph reports. President Masoud Pezeshkian warned that Tehran residents may need to evacuate by mid-December if conditions don't improve. Severe air pollution has forced school closures across multiple cities.​

Despite these challenges, experts assess that the regime remains stable, largely due to nationalist sentiment generated during the war with Israel. However, Iran faces increasing international isolation following the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposition of UN sanctions. The regime has begun emphasizing ancient Persian Empire imagery rather than revolutionary Islamic messaging to rally public support, as evidenced by the installation of a replica of a 1,700-year-old relief sculpture in central Tehran depicting Roman Emperor Valerian kneeling before Persian King Shapur I with the message, "You will kneel before Iran again," The Telegraph reports.

Public dissatisfaction with conditions in Iran has reached 92% according to polling conducted for the president's office, The Telegraph reports. The combination of intelligence failures, environmental crises, economic pressures, and domestic repression creates a volatile situation, though the regime's security apparatus remains capable of suppressing dissent through mass arrests and executions.

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The historic flag of Iran – the Lion and Sun flag serving as a symbol for supporters of the exiled Shah and opponents of the regime – is being raised openly in public spaces. In an unusual incident at a Tehran metro station, two Iranian men dressed in military uniforms were filmed waving the historic flag. Raising the flag in a central location like the metro represents a clear act of rebellion against the Islamic Republic, especially when performed by individuals identified with the security system. The viral videos from this event are going viral in Iran.

A colonel-ranked officer (according to Iranian sources, retired), Ebrahim Agai Kumazani, came out publicly in a video against the ayatollah regime. He denounced the Iranian regime as an "unholy and false regime" with no connection to Iran's history or land. He accused the regime of treason, theft, fraud, creating crises, and spreading poverty and crime. The colonel expressed public support for Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and called on the Iranian people "to rise up" and act to save Iran. The officer presented himself as a "soldier in the people's army."

Hours after Colonel Kumazani's video started circulating on networks, another officer, Colonel Sajjad Azadeh from Iran's ground forces, presented himself in another video as someone reinforcing the move against the regime. He also declared he is "a soldier of Iran's national army, and a soldier of the Lion and Sun flag." He promised that in the coming days "major events are on the way." The colonel announced that soon the rebels "will tear apart the darkness of lies, fraud, and occupation." This officer's joining the open call indicates a division trend permeating to the heart of the security system.

A new video surfaced in recent hours exposing an unprecedented level of defiance – three soldiers dressed in Iranian military uniforms were filmed burning pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, while shouting "Long live the Shah!" and pledging allegiance to the Lion and Sun flag. This act symbolizes deep rebellion and represents support for the national cooperation campaign launched by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. The campaign encourages mass desertions against the Islamist regime.

In the modern era, the possibility cannot be ignored that the videos circulating in Iran and stirring much unrest are AI videos, perhaps cooked up by a foreign intelligence agency to create unrest in Iran. However, the unrest in Iran is linked to the most severe crisis Iran has faced in recent decades – the water crisis, a truly critical and pressing issue. According to the latest released data, water reserves in Tehran are sufficient for only two weeks, and rare statements were heard from Iran's president about the possibility of "evacuating Tehran within a month." This unprecedented crisis is leading Iran to growing tensions, with the public pointing an accusing finger at the regime and its failed plans.

The possibility that the regime cannot provide water to its residents raises the question: Can a regime that cannot provide a basic existential need survive? As commentators note, a regime feeling the ground shaking beneath its feet might "flee forward" and open an external confrontation or war to try to unite the angry Iranian public around it.

Either way, the lethal combination of internal crises (water and economy) with what appears to be public calls for rebellion from within the military system indicates the Tehran regime stands at a decision point where widespread uprising is no longer a theoretical scenario but a real possibility, strengthening daily.

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During an interview with an Associated Press correspondent visiting Tehran, Araghchi delivered the government's clearest statement yet on the nuclear program's condition after Israel and the US bombed enrichment sites in June. "There is no undeclared nuclear enrichment in Iran. All of our facilities are under the safeguards and monitoring" of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the foreign minister stated, Associated Press noted. "There is no enrichment right now because our enrichment facilities have been attacked." Tehran issued a three-day visa to the Associated Press journalist attending a summit with reporters from major British outlets and other media.

A Wednesday report from the UN atomic watchdog revealed Iran continues denying inspectors entry to nuclear locations targeted during June bombardment, with enriched uranium inventory accounting remaining "long overdue," Reuters indicated. IAEA protocols require monthly verification of highly enriched uranium stockpiles, particularly material reaching 60% purity levels in Iran – nearing the approximately 90% weapons-grade threshold. The agency has demanded for months that Tehran reveal the material's location and restore full inspection access, Reuters stated. While a September Cairo agreement intended to enable this, limited progress occurred and Iran now considers the agreement "is void."

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