Middle East

Sources close to Iran's Jewish population counter social media claims, stressing community remains unharmed and faithful to Tehran authorities.

Trump briefed on potential end of ayatollah's rule. Military officials cited by the NYT stated that if the White House ordered a strike, the carrier group could theoretically take action within one or two days.

Amid ongoing tension, US military announces major drill in the region "to deter aggression." The USS Abraham Lincoln and guided-missile destroyers are now officially in the CENTCOM theater of operations.

Sources told Persian Gulf media that senior officials in the intelligence apparatus of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are working at full force to prevent the restoration of full internet access, amid growing fears within the regime that reconnecting the country would reignite protests.

The Iranian opposition website Iran International reports that more than 36,000 people have been killed in the suppression of the protests, calling it the “deadliest two-day protest massacre in history.” An Iranian citizen told Israel Hayom: “Tens of thousands were killed within two nights. Europe and the democratic countries are silent about this.”

Intelligence obtained in part from Israel points to mass executions of protesters and medical teams. Wounded demonstrators were abducted from hospitals while others were shot at hospital gates. A special department has been established in the US to identify and locate those involved. 

A senior Kurdish official in Iraq has appealed to the international community for help for the Kurdish minority in Syria, implicitly including Israel, saying the Kurds who once defended humanity now need protection themselves.

While the official figure released by regime authorities stands at 3,117 dead, internal data suggest that more than 30,000 people may have been killed in just two days. 

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier has yet to reach the area of responsibility of US Central Command, while the USS George H.W. Bush has also departed Virginia, with online assessments suggesting it is heading for the region.

Israeli intelligence helped prove that the Iranian regime executed protesters, despite assurances President Donald Trump said he had received. Trump has said that one of the reasons he delayed a strike on Iran was a commitment to halt the execution of more than 800 detainees who had taken part in protests.