Middle East

Ali Shamkhani warned that any US military action would have global consequences as regime forced government workers to attend Revolution Day rallies across the country.

Israel is concerned that Iran could rebuild its ballistic missile arsenal to as many as 2,000 missiles within weeks or months if no action is taken, according to Israeli officials quoted by CNN. 

Iranian authorities have launched a campaign of promises and threats toward the public ahead of the marking of “Unity Day” on February 12. Civil servants will be required to attend rallies organized by the regime. At the same time, signs of resistance continue to break through the tightening grip of repression. 

According to Bloomberg, Bilal Erdogan, 44, is undergoing what sources describe as “political grooming” and has become involved in selecting senior figures within Turkey’s ruling party and government. The scenario being discussed is that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would win another term, appoint his son as chairman of the ruling party and later name him vice president.

New satellite imagery reveals that Iran has fully covered the tunnel entrances at its nuclear facility in Isfahan with earth, rendering the central and southern access points unrecognizable, according to an analysis suggesting Tehran is preparing for a potential US Israeli airstrike or special forces raid. 

Iran’s National Security Council Secretary Ali Larijani is set to meet Omani officials on Tuesday following US-Iran talks that ended without major breakthroughs. Meanwhile, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said Tehran might be willing to dilute its stockpile of highly enriched uranium in return for the full removal of sanctions.

Forces loyal to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have arrested Azar Mansouri, the head of the faction that helped propel Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to office, after she criticized the regime’s killing of protesters. Two additional senior figures from the reformist camp were also detained, as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps tightens its grip across the regime’s institutions

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that his country would under no circumstances agree to stop uranium enrichment, stressing that talks with the US are focused solely on the nuclear issue. “Our atomic bomb is the ability to say no,” he said.

Syrian officials and military officers told The Atlantic that communications adviser Luna al-Shibl served as the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad’s mistress and was responsible for procuring women for him, including the wives of senior Syrian officers. The report also described missed opportunities Assad squandered and cited claims by a former Israeli official who said he had proposed organizing a palace coup.