An Iranian local told KAN Reshet Bet that anti-regime activists would prefer an Israeli strike for its precision, as they await a US attack on the regime amid ongoing protests and brutal crackdowns.
IAF fighter jets taking off for strikes in Iran, June 16, 2025.(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)ByJAMES GENN Updated: Iranians, while “waiting every minute and second” for a US strike against the Islamic Regime, would prefer an Israeli strike due to the precise nature of the Air Force’s strikes in June, while there is a perception that US strikes would “bring terrible destruction, like in Iraq and Afghanistan,” a local, identified as Ali told KAN Reshet Bet on Sunday.
Ali added that the Israeli strikes in June focused on targeted hits against “the mercenaries of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps” and the Iranian regime’s leadership, and did not cause harm to “ordinary citizens” or any economic infrastructure.
Additionally, he told KAN that the regime has “brutally murdered and dismembered” over 40,000 people, and injured hundreds of thousands more during the anti-regime protests over the past two months.
A mosque that was burned during Iran’s protests, in Tehran, Iran, January 21, 2026. (credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)
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Israel’s public broadcaster also asked Ali if he was afraid to be interviewed by Israeli radio. In response, he quoted a Persian proverb, including that if the regime kidnaps and kills him, then “at least I will rest, at least I won’t feel hungry.”
Iranians adopt nickname for PM Netanyahu
Further, he added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has grown in popularity in Iran, with everyone calling him “Bibi-Gol [Bibi the flower],” while telling Ben-Ami that he has been learning Hebrew and that the regime has kept Hebrew-learning platforms open.
The regime has intended these platforms to be used to further its hopes that it will conquer Israel, wanting citizens to know the language, possibly aiding in espionage. “This will help you,” the regime tells citizens, according to Ali.
Basij tried to intimidate us, but we shouted louder, student protesters tell N12
Later on Sunday, two university students active in the weekend’s protests in Tehran spoke to N12 News about the weekend’s events and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps paramilitary Basij force’s attempt to suppress protest activity.
One of the students, attending Sharif University, told the Israeli news channel that the regime believed it could “extinguish the fire that burns within us students for protest and revolution” by keeping campuses closed, but they failed to do so.
Saturday was the first day campuses reopened following a closure last month amid the height of anti-regime protests, they noted.
“The moment we entered campus, we looked each other in the eyes… as if to say to each other: we haven’t stopped in the middle, we don’t leave work half-done. We all had suppressed anger,” they added.
Describing the atmosphere upon return to campus, they said that “Everyone was looking for our friends who were killed – the absence of many has been felt. This sadness turned into shared anger that pulled us to the center of the campus.”
“Basij forces positioned themselves in front of us, threatened, and intimidated us,” they continued.
The paramilitary members, along with “pro-regime students entered, positioned themselves in front of us, and began to threaten and intimidate us, but we shouted louder,” they said.
“Our friends shouted ‘Long live the Shah’ and Basij shouted ‘Haider’ [a nickname for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei], the same slogan that is used as a signal for Shia to kill and slaughter us,” they recalled.
“We shouted at them: ‘We are the owners of the land – get out of here, Khamenei,’ which led Basij members to attack, confront, and try to suppress us. This time we stood up to them,” they continued.
Another student, at Amir Kabir University in Tehran, told N12 that “We had planned about 10 days in advance to hold a sit-in strike within the campus.”
“Security, Basij, and pro-regime students were spread around the area. Most of the chants were: ‘Death to the dictator,’ ‘Long live the Shah,’ ‘Death to corruption,’ ‘Freedom, freedom,’ and ‘This is the year of blood – Ali [Khamenei] will fall,” they stated.
Attacks could reportedly include the Houthis resuming its attacks on Western shipping boats in the Red Sea, or Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and other “affiliates” attacking US bases or embassies in Europe.
People wave flags next to an Iranian missile on display during the 46th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, February 10, 2025.(photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS)ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAMIran may order its proxies to retaliate against American targets worldwide should US President Donald Trump order “large-scale attacks” against the regime, the New York Times reported on Sunday evening, citing US and Western officials.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the officials told NYTthat, while they haven’t learned of any specific plots, “heightened ‘chatter'” in intercepted terrorist communications “indicates some level of attack planning and coordination.”
“Iran can work through proxies to conduct terrorist attacks that will raise costs for any US military campaign,” Executive Director of the Soufan Center in New York, Colin P. Clarke, shared with NYT, explaining that should Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the IRGC feel threatened by the US’s attack, it may lead to them “order[ing] terror attacks abroad, including in Europe.”
Such attacks could reportedly include the Houthis resuming their attacks on Western shipping boats in the Red Sea, or Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and other “affiliates” attacking US bases or embassies in Europe.
According to the NYT , the Pentagon has in recent days rushed to order the preparation of additional Patriot batteries and other missile defenses to protect its troops stationed across the Middle East.
The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the U.S. Navy nuclear-powered Ford-class aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) arrives in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, December 1, 2025. (credit: Seaman Abigail Reyes/U.S. Navy/Handout via REUTERS)
Even so, terror attacks against civilians and so-called “softer” targets would be more difficult to defend against.
NYT quoted a senior Western official saying that there is also the fear of possible “hybrid attacks” against US and European targets, though these threats are under constant review, per the report.
Mar-a-Lago could be targeted if US attacks Iran, says Iranian MP
On Saturday, an Iranian member of parliament warned that Iran could expand any wartime response beyond the Middle East and said that even Trump’s “own palace” could be targeted, according to remarks published by Iranian outlet Didban Iran and later translated by Iran International.
The lawmaker was identified as Amir Hayat Moghaddam, a member of Iran’s parliament and its national security and foreign policy commission. Iran International quoted him as saying Iran would deliver a “crushing response” if attacked by the United States.
According to the report, Moghaddam said Iran could sink a US warship in the Sea of Oman, strike US bases in the region, and target American forces, including “soldier, officer, or general.”
US gathers military arsenal in Middle East
The NYT report comes ahead of the third round of negotiations between the US and Iran, set to take place in Geneva on Thursday, and amid the US amassing its military forces in the Middle East.
Flight-tracking data shows that tanker planes, fighter jets, and other US military aircraft have been repositioned in recent days, including advanced F-35s, which can evade radar detection.
The current US arsenal in the area includes two destroyers in the Mediterranean Sea, one in the Red Sea, four in the Persian Gulf, and an aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, accompanied by four destroyers in the Arabian Sea.
A second carrier strike group, the USS Gerald R. Ford, arrived in the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, accompanied by its warships.
The US also possesses established military infrastructure scattered across multiple countries, including bases containing fighter jets, drones, and helicopters in Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and the UAE.
“It looks like Hamas will be getting rid of their weapons,” Trump added. “They said ‘they’re not afraid to die,’ but they are.”
LIVE: President Trump speaks at inaugural Board of Peace meeting
ByREUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF Updated: US President Donald Trump presided over the first meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday, with unresolved questions on the likelihood of war with Iran hanging over an event that included representatives from more than 45 nations.
The president said that he would “find out about Iran in about 10 days,” Trump added. “We do have some work to do in Iran. They can’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Regarding the future of Gaza, Trump said he believed “Hamas will be getting rid of their weapons.”
Trump also said that it seems to him that Hamas will disarm.
“Hamas has been, I think they’re going to give up their weapons, which is what they promised,” he said. “If they don’t, it’ll be, you know, they’ll be harshly met, very harshly met. They don’t want that.”
Trump said that various US allies have contributed over $7 billion to relief efforts in Gaza, and that the US would contribute around $10 billion.
US President Donald Trump listens, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner speaks, during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, US, February 19, 2026. (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
Trump claims BoP will oversee United Nations
He went on to say that the Board of Peace will be “looking over” the United Nations, which he referred to as having “great potential.”
“The Board of Peace is going to almost be looking over the United Nations and making sure it runs properly,” he said. “We’re going to strengthen the United Nations. We’re going to make sure its facilities are good. They need help, and they need help money-wise. We’re going to help them money-wise, and we’re going to make sure the United Nations is viable.”
He also made a point to note that he “doesn’t care” about winning any awards for his efforts.
“I don’t care about Nobel prizes,” he said. “I care about saving lives.”
Addressing the various dignitaries in attendance, Trump called out Qatari PM Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani by name, saying he is “a great man, highly respected.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio added that there was “no plan B” for Gaza other than President Donald Trump’s peace effort, as the new body met for the first time in Washington to discuss ways to build on a fragile ceasefire that began in October.
“We have to get this right. There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war. No one here wants that,” Rubio said.
What did the Board of Peace discuss in first meeting?
The disarmament of Hamas terrorists, the size of the reconstruction fund, and the flow of humanitarian aid to the war-battered populace of Gaza are among the major questions likely to test the effectiveness of the board in the weeks and months ahead.
Trump addressed the group at the Donald J Trump US Institute of Peace – a building in Washington, the president recently renamed for himself – and announced that participating nations have raised $5 billion for the reconstruction fund.
The money is expected to be a down payment on a fund that will likely need many more billions. Included in the $5 billion is an expected $1.2 billion from each of Washington’s Gulf Arab allies, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, a US official told Reuters.
Trump’s Board of Peace has been controversial. It includes Israel but not Palestinian representatives, and Trump’s suggestion that the Board could eventually address challenges beyond Gaza has stirred anxiety that it could undermine the UN’s role as the main platform for global diplomacy and conflict resolution.
Senior US officials said Trump will also announce that several nations are planning to send thousands of troops to participate in an International Stabilization Force that will help keep the peace in Gaza.
Disarming Hamas terrorists in order for the peacekeepers to begin their mission remains a major sticking point, and the force is not expected to deploy for weeks or months.
Hamas, fearful of Israeli reprisals, has been reluctant to hand over weaponry as part of Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan that brought about a ceasefire last October in the two-year Israel-Hamas War.
“We are under no illusions on the challenges regarding demilitarization, but we have been encouraged by what the mediators have reported back,” a senior administration official said.
Several UN Security Council members will not attend BoP meeting
Delegations from 47 countries, including the European Union, are expected to attend the event, US officials said. The list includes Israel and a wide array of countries from Albania to Vietnam.
It does not, however, include permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, such as France, Britain, Russia, and China.
Speakers at the event are expected to include Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, former British prime minister Tony Blair, who is expected to have a senior role on the board, US ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, and High Representative for Gaza Nickolay Mladenov, among other attendees.
A member of the peace board, who declined to be named, said the Gaza plan faces formidable obstacles. Establishing security in the enclave is a precondition for progress in other areas, but the police force is neither ready nor fully trained, said the official.
The official added that a key unresolved question is who would negotiate with Hamas. The peace board’s representatives could do so with countries that have influence over Hamas – notably Qatar and Turkey – but Israel is deeply skeptical of both.
Another major issue is the flow of aid, which the official described as “disastrous” and in urgent need of scaling up. Even if aid surges in, it remains unclear who will distribute it, the official said.
U.S President Donald Trump attends the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, US, February 19, 2026. (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)
JPMorgan in talks to bank for Trump’s Board of Peace, FT says
JPMorgan is in talks to provide banking services to the Board of Peace, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the discussions.
The bank has discussed providing services such as facilitating payments to and from the board, the report added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Kosovo, Kazakhstan, to join Gaza International Stabilization Force
Meanwhile, Kosovo and Kazakhstan joined the list of countries participating in the ISF under Trump’s vision for a “new order” in the Gaza Strip, according to information obtained by Israeli sources on Wednesday.
ISF aims to facilitate the demilitarization of Hamas and maintain the ceasefire between Israel and the terror group, and includes countries such as Indonesia, Morocco, Greece, and Albania, the latter three having joined earlier this week.
