TOP STORIES
Iran Suspected of Scouting Jewish Targets in Europe | Wall Street Journal
Iran is suspected of collecting information on Jewish targets in Berlin to prepare for possible attacks, German authorities said Tuesday following the arrest of an alleged spy working for Tehran. . . . [A German] official said Ali S., a Danish national of Afghan origin, was believed to have acted under the instructions of the Quds Force, an elite section of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that is mainly responsible for foreign operations.
Satellite Imagery Shows Iran at Work at Fordo Nuclear Site | New York Times
Satellite images taken in the days after the American attack on Iran’s Fordo nuclear enrichment site show a flurry of activity at the heavily fortified facility built deep inside a mountain. New roads can be seen constructed to the points where U.S. bombs struck the top of the mountain, and an apparent crane and an excavator seem to be working near one of the impact sites. Many other vehicles are also visible at additional points around the site in the images . . . “It appears that they’re evaluating the hole, evaluating how deep it went,” said Joseph S. Bermudez, senior fellow for imagery analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The images are showing us that the Iranians are beginning the process of investigating what happened and what level of damage the facility has.” . . . Iran doesn’t appear to be beginning any type of reconstruction or repairs to the enrichment facility itself.
Iran Says It Arrested European Nationals Accused of Links to Israel | Iran International
Iran has arrested several European nationals in various provinces over allegations they were “in some way cooperating with Israel” and has opened cases against them, the judiciary’s spokesperson said on Monday.
UANI IN THE NEWS
UANI Policy Director Jason M. Brodsky Breaks Down the Status of Nuclear Negotiations | i24
“I think President Trump has made no secret of his desire for a diplomatic settlement with the Islamic Republic of Iran, but he is not going to just sign on to any deal. He has proven that a deadline means a deadline and that he has principles in these negotiations—and one consistent principle is there has to be zero enrichment in Iran.”
NUCLEAR DIPLOMACY & NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Iran Says Cannot Guarantee Safety of UN Nuclear Watchdog's Inspectors | Iran International
The safety and security of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors cannot be guaranteed while Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization continues to assess damage to nuclear facilities following recent attacks, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.
Esmail Baghaei said it is “entirely unrealistic” to expect Iran to have normal cooperation with the IAEA, and that IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s insistence on continuing cooperation at this time is “not understandable.”
US Must Rule Out More Strikes Before New Talks, Iranian Minister Tells BBC | BBC News
The US must rule out any further strikes on Iran if it wants to resume diplomatic talks, Tehran's deputy foreign minister has told the BBC. Majid Takht-Ravanchi said the Trump administration told Iran through mediators that it wanted to return to negotiations this week, but had not made its position clear on the “very important question” of further attacks while talks are taking place. . . . Takht-Ravanchi also said Iran would “insist” on being able to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes, rejecting accusations that it is secretly moving towards developing a nuclear bomb.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said it will take time and assurances from the US before Tehran is ready to re-engage in talks on its nuclear program, insisting that the country will soon be ready to start enriching uranium again and “make up for lost time.” “I don’t think negotiations will restart as quickly as that,” Araghchi was quoted as telling CBS News, though he added that diplomacy was not off the table. “In order for us to decide to reengage, we will have to first ensure that America will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations,” Araghchi added. “And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time.”
Trust in UN’s Nuclear Watchdog Is Broken, Iranian President Says | Guardian
Trust in the UN nuclear inspectorate is broken inside Iran, the country’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has told Emmanuel Macron, as European nations issued a statement in defence of its head.
G7 Urges Talks to Resume for Deal on Iran Nuclear Program | Reuters
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations said on Monday they supported the ceasefire between Israel and Iran and urged for negotiations to resume for a deal to address Iran's nuclear program, according to a joint statement. . . . “We call for the resumption of negotiations, resulting in a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran's nuclear program,” the G7 foreign ministers said.
France, Germany, UK Plead for Iran Not to Cease Cooperation with IAEA | Politico
Iran should immediately resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in a joint statement Monday.
PROTESTS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
More than 250,000 Afghans Left Iran in June, UN Says | BBC News
More than 256,000 Afghans left Iran in June alone, marking a surge in returns to Afghanistan since Tehran set a hard deadline for repatriations, the UN's migration agency has said. . . . The surge in repatriations—and the deadline—have come since Iran and Israel engaged in direct conflict with one another, beginning with Israel attacking nuclear and military sites in mid-June. A ceasefire has since been brokered. As the two exchanged daily strikes, the Iranian regime arrested several Afghan migrants it suspected of spying for Israel, state media reported. Following these claims, a new wave of deportations began.
All 14 Jews the Iranian regime arrested have been released, Iranian opposition activists and journalists told JNS, after news reports last week that the Islamic Republic arrested some 600 people across the country after an announced ceasefire between Iran and Israel. . . . The regime’s intelligence services told Jewish communities throughout the country not to communicate with people outside of Iran, especially those living in Israel, the Jewish leaders told the activist. . . . The regime also told Jewish leaders that “anyone caught speaking to people in Israel will automatically be imprisoned for six months on charges of espionage against the state,” the source added.
Twenty-four members of the Jewish community in Tehran and Shiraz remain in prison as of Sunday after being arrested along with hundreds of others in a sweeping government crackdown in Iran that began as fighting ended with Israel. The arrests took in 35 Jews originally, according to a report put out Saturday by HRANA, the Human Rights Activist News Agency, an affiliate of the Human Rights in Iran NGO. Mass arrests began early in the morning of 23 June, according to the report. Eleven Jews have been released since the original arrests, according to a former senior Iranian communal leader, who would speak only on condition of anonymity due to concerns for his contacts in Iran.
MILITARY/INTELLIGENCE MATTERS & PROXY WARS
Khamenei’s Aide Warns of Stronger Retaliation If New Attacks Begin | Iran International
“The Americans and Israelis must know we won't let them go,” said Yahya Rahim-Safavi, a senior military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. “We warn the enemies that if they start a new wave of threats, Iran will respond in a harsher way—beyond their imagination,” he said. . . . “Netanyahu's death is near,” Rahim-Safavi added, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
935 People Killed in Israeli Strikes on Iran, Official Says | Reuters
Some 935 people were killed in Iran during the 12-day air war with Israel, based on the latest forensic data, a spokesperson for the Iranian judiciary said on Monday, according to state media. . . . The death toll was a sharp increase from a previous Iranian health ministry tally of 610 killed in Iran before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday last week.
Couple from Ra’anana Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for Iran | Times of Israel
A couple from Ra’anana have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran, Israel Police and the Shin Bet announce. Police say in a statement that law enforcement officers searched the pair’s apartment in the town in the center of the country yesterday, seizing several phones, computers, and other technological devices, in addition to correspondence suspected of being between the couple and their Iranian handler.
Trump Could Bomb Iran Again | Michael Evans in The Spectator
President Trump has already warned Tehran that he’ll be back if Iran tries to revive and advance its nuclear programme, following the strikes by B-2 stealth bombers. Judging by the comments of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Trump may find himself with this dilemma sooner than he thinks.
CYBERSECURITY MATTERS
Iran-Linked Group Hacks Trump Aides’ Emails: Officials Slam “Smear Campaign” | Axios
An Iran-linked cyberattack group that hacked President Trump’s 2024 campaign is threatening to release another trove of emails it has stolen from his associates, including White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and Roger Stone. Reuters first reported the threat on Monday that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency on X called a “calculated smear campaign”—which came the same day as the Trump administration released a report warning that “Iranian Cyber Actors” may target U.S. firms and “operators of critical infrastructure.”
Iranian Hackers Could Target American Defense Companies Working in Israel, US Agencies Warn | CNN
“Based on the current geopolitical environment, Iranian-affiliated cyber actors may target U.S. devices and networks for near-term cyber operations,” said [an] advisory from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, FBI, National Security Agency and the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center. US defense contractors, “particularly those possessing holdings or relationships with Israeli research and defense firms, are at increased risk,” the agencies said.
Iran Flooded X with Antisemitic Bots During Conflict, Report Finds | Jerusalem Post
Iranian operatives saturated X with antisemitic conspiracy theories and anti-Israel talking points aimed at Americans while Israel and Iran fought in June, a Ministry of Diaspora Affairs report found. The study said hundreds of coordinated fake accounts generated up to 60 percent of the traffic on key wartime hashtags, many of them tweeting in English to accuse a “Jewish lobby” of dragging Washington into conflict and to brand Israel a “terrorist state,” all with the goal of eroding US support for military action against Tehran.
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
Iran’s Khamenei Survived War With Israel—Now Faces Power Struggle at Home | Newsweek
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has evaded threats of assassination and regime change as the ceasefire declared by President Donald Trump halts the “12-Day War” that saw the Islamic Republic face an unprecedented assault from Israel and direct U.S. intervention. But as the 86-year-old cleric emerges triumphant from the bout—declaring victory in his first post-truce remarks last week with Tehran still reeling from the Israeli air campaign—the very prospect of his downfall has accelerated discussions about his potential successor, and even given rise to speculation of a major shake-up in future governance.
EUROPE & IRAN
Iranian Threat Already Inside Britain | Telegraph
The Treasury is currently investigating British companies for violating sanctions against Iran’s nuclear programme, with concern over nine suspected breaches of Britain’s sanctions regime against Iran in 2024 being intensified by Israel’s recent 12-day war. These sanctions violations are of course concerning, but only constitute a small part of Iran’s clandestine political influence and illicit finance operations in Britain.