TOP STORIES
Trump Considers Targeted Strike Against Iran, Followed by Larger Attack | New York Times
President Trump has told advisers that if diplomacy or any initial targeted U.S. attack does not lead Iran to give in to his demands that it give up its nuclear program, he will consider a much bigger attack in coming months intended to drive that country’s leaders from power, people briefed on internal administration deliberations said.
U.S.-Iran Talks Expected Thursday to Discuss Nuclear Proposal | Axios
U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected to meet in Geneva on Thursday to discuss a detailed Iranian proposal for a nuclear deal. A senior U.S. official told Axios on Sunday morning the Trump administration expects to receive the proposal by Tuesday. The current diplomatic push is likely the last chance President Trump will give Iran before launching a massive U.S.-Israeli military operation that could directly target Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, U.S. officials say. . . . “If Iran gives a draft proposal, the U.S. is ready to meet in Geneva in order to start detailed negotiations to see if we can get a nuclear deal,” a senior U.S. official said. The official confirmed the Trump administration and Iran may also discuss the possibility of an interim agreement before a full nuclear deal is agreed . . .
Iran Students Protest for Second Day Despite State Crackdown | New York Times
As the first day of a new semester in Iran began, anti-government protests erupted at multiple universities, according to student groups and videos verified by The Times. Students continued protesting on Sunday, wearing black to mourn those killed in earlier protests, according to accounts from student groups and videos verified by The Times from the Tehran University of Art and the Iran University of Science and Technology. . . . By late Sunday, students said they planned to continue their protests for a third day, with students in the city of Isfahan vowing to join on Tuesday. “We neither forgive nor forget,” a student group said.
UANI IN THE NEWS
Fighting for Iranian's Freedom: Ambassador Mark Wallace at CPAC in DC 2025 | CPAC
United Against Nuclear Iran Ambassador and CEO Mark Wallace and his wife, Hiva, spoke at CPAC in DC 2025 about this threat [nuclear war with Iran and the Iranian regime in general] on Friday, February 21, 2025. Wallace criticized the Islamic regime and spoke about its injustices. “When you snuff out political speech, that’s just the beginning,” he said. This speech came before CPAC’s announcement of a partnership with United Against Nuclear Iran. Together, they are working to support Iranians in their fight against the regime, as well as supporting Iranians who have been exiled. They have recently launched a website, titled CPAC for Iranians in Exile, to support this mission.
Trump Gives Iran 10-Day Ultimatum, but Experts Signal Talks May Be Buying Time for Strike | Fox News
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital, “The Iranian regime has been operating under a grand delusion that they can turn President Trump into President Obama, and President Trump has made it clear that that’s not happening.” Brodsky said there is little expectation inside the administration that diplomacy will produce a breakthrough. “I think there’s deep skepticism in the Trump administration that this negotiation is going to produce any acceptable outcome,” he said. Instead, he said, the talks may be serving a dual purpose. “They’re using the diplomatic process to sharpen the choices of the Iranian leadership and to buy time to make sure that we have the appropriate military assets in the region,” Brodsky said. . . . According to Brodsky, Iran’s core positions remain unchanged. “They’re trying to engage in a lot of distraction — shiny objects — to distract from the fact that they’re not prepared to make the concessions that President Trump is requiring of them,” he said. “The Iranian positions do not change and have not changed fundamentally. They refuse to accept President Trump’s position on zero enrichment. They refuse to dismantle their nuclear infrastructure. They refuse limitations on Iran’s missile program, and they refuse to end support for terror groups.”
UANI Policy Director Jason M. Brodsky Discusses Iran’s Use of Western Influencers | ILTV News
Brodsky: “The trip by these influencers to Iran raises tremendous concerns. I believe that the Sobh International Media Festival is kind of a repackaged outfit for the Islamic Republic to use to recruit Westerners to amplify the regime’s propaganda to Western audiences. . . . There have been instances where one arm of the Iranian state invites American or Western nationals to a ‘conference’ in Iran only for another arm of the Iranian state to take them hostage and we’ve seen this before in some hostage cases.”
Russia-Ukraine War: 1.2 Million Russian Casualties, No U.S. Troops | Forbes
[Photo Caption:] A downed Iranian-made Shahed-136 attack drone, used by Russia in Ukraine, is unveiled at the Houses of Parliament on October 14, 2025 in London, England. The event was organised by United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a US-based organisation that aims to combat the threat of Iran's nuclear programme, and was intended to highlight the Iranian regime's role in Russia's aggression in Europe.
DIPLOMATIC & MILITARY MATTERS
Trump Says He Is Considering Limited Military Strike on Iran | BBC News
US President Donald Trump has said he is considering a limited military strike on Iran in order to pressure its leaders to agree a deal to curb the nuclear programme.
Trump’s Iran Options: “Token” Nuclear Enrichment to Taking Out Khamenei | Axios
The Trump administration is prepared to consider a proposal that allows Iran “token” nuclear enrichment if it leaves no possible path to a bomb, a senior U.S. official told Axios. . . . “President Trump will be ready to accept a deal that would be substantive and that he can sell politically at home. If the Iranians want to prevent an attack they should give us an offer we can't refuse. The Iranians keep missing the window. If they play games there won’t be a lot of patience,” the senior U.S. official said. . . . “The president hasn’t decided to strike yet. I know that because we haven’t struck. He might never do it. He might wake up tomorrow and say, ‘That's it,’” one senior Trump adviser said. The adviser said the Pentagon had presented Trump with numerous options. “They have something for every scenario. One scenario takes out the ayatollah and his son and the mullahs,” the adviser said, referring to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his son Mojtaba, who is seen as a potential successor. “What the president chooses no one knows. I don’t think he knows.” . . . A senior U.S. official said [U.S. negotiators Steve] Witkoff and [Jared] Kushner told [Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas] Araghchi that Trump’s position was “zero enrichment” on Iranian soil. But the official said that if the proposal includes “small, token enrichment,” and if the Iranians offer detailed proof that it poses no threat, the U.S. will study it.
Security Cabinet Told That Trump Is Pushing for Iran Deal in Stages | Times of Israel
Last night’s security cabinet meeting in Jerusalem dealt at length with the direction of ongoing talks between Iran and the US, according to the Maariv daily. Ministers were told that Trump is pursuing a deal based on stages, as he has done in Gaza and elsewhere, with the most pressing issue—Iran’s nuclear program — being handled in the first stage. The issues of Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for armed terror groups will be handled in subsequent stages according to the Trump vision, reports Maariv. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is convening another security discussion with close aides and top ministers today in Jerusalem, according to the offices of one of the attendees.
Dozens of U.S. Planes Are at Jordan Base, Satellite Images and Flight Data Show | New York Times
New satellite imagery and flight tracking data show a base in central Jordan has become a key hub for the U.S. military’s planning for possible strikes on Iran. Imagery captured on Friday shows more than 60 attack aircraft parked at the base, known as Muwaffaq Salti, roughly tripling the number of jets that are normally there. And at least 68 cargo planes have landed at the base since Sunday, according to flight tracking data. More fighter jets could be parked under shelters. The satellite images also show more modern aircraft, including F-35 stealth jets, compared to the aircraft normally seen there. Several drones and helicopters are also seen. Soldiers also installed new air defenses to protect the base from incoming Iranian missiles.
Witkoff Warns Iran Is ‘a Week Away’ from ‘Bomb-Making Material’ as Trump Weighs Action | Fox News
“It’s up to 60%,” [U.S. envoy Steve] Witkoff said of Iran’s enrichment level. “They’re probably a week away from having industrial-grade bomb-making material.” The “dangerous” proposition, Witkoff said . . . comes despite Trump’s “zero enrichment” red line, which he accused Iran of violating “well beyond” what a civil nuclear program requires. “We can’t have that,” he said. “This is something that they have to stick with until they prove to us that they can behave.”
Trump Curious Why Iran Has Not ‘Capitulated,’ US Envoy Witkoff Says | BBC News
[U.S. envoy Steve] Witkoff said: “I don't want to use the word ‘frustrated’ . . . because he [President Trump] understands he's got plenty of alternatives, but he’s curious as to why they haven’t . . . I don't want to use the word ‘capitulated,’ but why they haven’t capitulated. . . . Why, under this sort of pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power that we have over there, why haven’t they come to us and said, ‘We profess that we don’t want a weapon, so here’s what we’re prepared to do?’ And yet it’s hard to sort of get them to that place,” Trump’s envoy added.
Iran announced Sunday that it tested a new naval air defense missile during military drills in the Strait of Hormuz as the United States continues to increase its military presence in the region. . . . The missile is intended to intercept military aircraft, maritime patrol planes and high-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles.
Iran Agreed Secret Shoulder-Fired Missile Deal with Russia | Financial Times
Iran agreed a secret €500mn arms deal with Russia to acquire thousands of advanced shoulder-fired missiles in its most significant effort to rebuild air defences shattered during last year’s war with Israel. . . . The Verba is one of Russia’s most modern air-defence systems, a shoulder-fired, infrared-guided missile capable of targeting cruise missiles, low-flying aircraft and drones. Operated by small mobile teams, it allows ground forces to quickly create dispersed defences without relying on fixed radar installations that are more vulnerable to strikes.
Iran Says Would Respond 'Ferociously' to Any US Attack, Even Limited Strikes | Agence France-Presse
The United States has built up forces in the Middle East to pile pressure on Iran to make a deal at negotiations due to restart on Thursday, with Trump weighing a limited strike if no agreement is reached. On Monday Iran's foreign ministry reiterated that any strike, even limited, would be “would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period.” “And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that’s what we would do,” ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran attended by an AFP journalist.
Tehran Is Ready for Nuclear Concessions if US Meets Demands, Iranian Official Says | Reuters
[An Iranian] official said Tehran would seriously consider a combination of sending half of its most highly enriched uranium abroad, diluting the rest and taking part in creating a regional enrichment consortium—an idea periodically raised in years of Iran-linked diplomacy. Iran would do this in return for U.S. recognition of Iran's right to “peaceful nuclear enrichment” under a deal that would also include lifting economic sanctions, the official said. In addition, Iran has offered openings for U.S. companies to participate as contractors in Iran's large oil and gas industries, the official said, in negotiations to resolve decades of dispute over Tehran's nuclear activities.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS in an interview which aired on Sunday that a “good chance” remained for a diplomatic solution on the nuclear issue, adding it was the only matter being discussed.
Under Trump Pressure, Iran Finds Its Friends Are of Little Help | Wall Street Journal
Iran has sought for years to build closer military ties with China and Russia, but its powerful friends are proving reluctant to step forward as the regime faces the most acute U.S. threat to its survival in decades. . . . For Beijing, aligning too openly with Tehran risks damaging a critical relationship with Trump, who is scheduled to travel to China in March for a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. . . . For Moscow, the calculation is similar but even more urgent: Not alienating Trump and driving him close to Ukraine takes precedence over helping Tehran.
The Diminishing Risk of an Iran Attack | Marc Gustafson in the Wall Street Journal
For the Trump administration, the upside of acting at a moment of Iranian vulnerability is plainly alluring. It could further erode proxy networks, blunt the nuclear threat, and help tip the global balance of power in America’s favor. An attack on Iran would still entail risk. The regime’s identity is rooted in resistance to foreign interference. An external attack could trigger pockets of fierce backlash. U.S. personnel remain within range of thousands of Iran’s short-range missiles. Oil markets could convulse if Tehran disrupted Gulf shipping. The trauma of past Middle East wars has shaped Washington’s Iran policy for decades. But today Iran’s proxies are weakened, its economy is fragile, its population is restless and its leadership is superannuated. The risks of escalation are less pronounced than in 2024 . . .
PROXY WARS
Iran Could Direct Proxies to Attack U.S. Targets Abroad, Officials Warn | New York Times
U.S. and other Western security officials say they are monitoring increasingly worrisome signs that Iran could direct proxies to conduct retaliatory terrorist attacks against American targets in Europe and the Middle East if President Trump orders large-scale strikes against Iran. . . . Threats abound. There is concern among intelligence and counterterrorism officials that Tehran could enlist the Houthis in Yemen to resume attacks on Western shipping in the Red Sea. There is also concern in Europe that Hezbollah sleeper cells or even Al Qaeda or its affiliates could be ordered to attack American bases or embassies. One senior U.S. official said that government analysts were tracking “a lot” of activity and planning but that it was unclear what could trigger an attack.
IRGC Running Hezbollah, Preparing It for War with Israel if US Strikes Iran | Times of Israel
Officers from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have effectively taken charge of Hezbollah in anticipation of a war with the US and Israel, Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya reported Saturday, as Lebanese officials were said to assail the possibility of their country getting dragged into battle. The IRGC officers, some of whom recently arrived in Lebanon from Iran, are tasked with rebuilding Hezbollah’s military capabilities, which were significantly degraded in the 14-month fighting with Israel that ended with a November 2024 truce, Al-Arabiya said, citing sources close to Hezbollah. The Iranian officers have also been personally briefing Hezbollah operatives across Lebanon, said the unnamed sources cited by Al-Arabiya. . . . The Kan public broadcaster reported Saturday evening that Israel has identified preparations by Hezbollah—particularly by its rocket forces—to strike if Iran is attacked, with the Lebanese terror group expected to target Israel together with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq and Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Preempting the Proxy: Israel Moves to Contain Hezbollah Before Iran Clash | Jerusalem Post
Israel’s latest strikes in Lebanon are not just another round in the slow-burning shadow war with Hezbollah. They are part of something larger: an effort to ensure that if the US—or Israel—strikes Iran, Tehran’s most powerful proxy will not be able to carry out the mission it was built for. For decades, Hezbollah has served as Iran’s forward deterrent against Israel, with an arsenal amassed on Israel’s northern border designed to unleash massive rocket and missile fire in the event Iran’s nuclear facilities or regime come under attack. That strategic logic has not changed. What has changed is Israel’s determination to degrade that capability before a wider confrontation begins.
INTELLIGENCE MATTERS
Engineers Charged with Stealing Google Secrets, Sending Data to Iran | The Hill
Three former engineers were charged Thursday with stealing trade secrets from Google and other tech companies and sending the information to Iran. Two sisters, 41-year-old Samaneh Ghandali and 32-year-old Soroor Ghandali, and 40-year-old Mohammadjavad Khosravi were indicted by a federal grand jury, according to the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California.
PROTESTS & HUMAN RIGHTS
Seven Sentenced to Death in Iran Protest Fire Case | Iran International
A Revolutionary Court in Tehran has sentenced seven protesters, including a 19-year-old, to death after accusing them of setting fire to a Basij base during nationwide protests in January, according to documents reviewed by Iran International. The sentences were issued on February 6, the source said, despite the defendants’ claims that they were trapped inside the building after it was set ablaze.
Trump Says 32,000 People Were Killed in Iran’s Crackdown on Protesters | CBS News
President Trump said in a news briefing Friday that 32,000 people were killed during the recent protests in Iran, a far higher death toll than has previously been reported. . . . When asked if he had a message for the people of Iran, Mr. Trump said “the people of Iran are very different than the leaders of Iran” and called it “a very, very, very sad situation.”
IRANIAN INTERNAL DEVELOPMENTS
IRGC Commanders Hold Meetings in Hospitals, Sources Say | Iran International
Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps commanders have held meetings inside hospitals in recent days, hospital staff told Iran International, raising concerns over the growing militarization of civilian spaces and potential risks to patients, medical workers and the public.
CONGRESS & IRAN
Lindsey Graham Frets That Trump’s Advisers Oppose Iran Strike | Axios
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Axios on Saturday that several people around President Trump are advising him not to bomb Iran. Graham urged the president to ignore them. . . . “I understand concerns about major military operations in the Middle East given past entanglements. However, the voices who counsel against getting entangled seem to ignore the consequences of letting evil go unchecked,” Graham told Axios. Graham said that after his recent trip to the region he thinks that there is an opportunity “to bring about historic change” in Iran. “But it’s increasingly clear to me that voices opposing entanglement and the risk associated with decisive action are getting louder. Time will tell as to how this plays out,” he said.
NJ, NY Reps to Oppose Iran War Powers Resolution in House | Axios
Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) will oppose a War Powers Act resolution designed to restrain President Trump on Iran, the two lawmakers tell Axios. . .”We oppose the Massie-Khanna War Powers Resolution to prohibit the use of force against Iran,” the two lawmakers said . . . “We respect and defend Congress's constitutional role in matters of war. Oversight and debate are absolutely vital,” they said. “However, this resolution would restrict the flexibility needed to respond to real and evolving threats and risks signaling weakness at a dangerous moment.”