Several Iranian students arrested after protests over classmate's murder

"He is completely one-eyed, and this is a sign of the end times," Seyyed Hassan Ameli told congregants in a sermon for Islamic Friday prayers according to the Tehran-based Didban News website.

Ameli is Ali Khamenei's representative to deliver the weekly sermon in the large northwestern city of Ardabil, and Friday prayer-leaders' remarks reflect official thinking in the theocracy.

In Islamic eschatology, a figure called Dajjal is a false messiah who will emerge in the end times, spreading corruption and misleading people with false promises of power and prosperity before being ultimately defeated by a righteous messiah.

His description in Islamic scripture as "one-eyed" has been interpreted to refer to his deception and ability to manipulate others for personal gain.

"The new US president has a completely one-sided view," Ameli said.

"He sees the world purely through a materialistic lens and openly declares that America is a business corporation."

"He covets wealth wherever it exists—whether it's Middle Eastern oil, Syrian oil, or Ukraine’s minerals," he continued.

Ameli further criticized Trump’s approach to foreign relations, saying that the US president has used intimidation tactics to pressure countries into submission, expecting Iran to comply in the same way.

Reimposing the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions on Iran from his first term this month, the hawkish Republican president has said he much prefers a deal on Iran's disputed nuclear program over any military attack on the country.

Trump then shocked Mideast leaders by saying he planned to seize and re-develop the Gaza Strip into the "riviera of the Middle East" after a 15-month incursion by US-allied Israel flattened much of the coastal enclave.

Khamenei appeared to promptly blast that idea, rejecting Trump's territorial ambitions as a fantasy.

The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported this week citing US intelligence assessments from last month that Israel saw an opening for an attack on Iranian nuclear sites as early as the first of this year.

Israel is basing its assessment, the papers reported, on Iran's weakness after an Oct. 26 Israeli attack knocked out much of its air defenses and a greater perceived receptiveness to military action from top backer the United States.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington this month and told US President Donald Trump at a White House Press conference that the two leaders "see eye to eye" on the danger posed by Iran after Tehran tried to kill them both.

The two hawkish leaders who have made facing down Iran a central part of their foreign policy, appeared close and said they ruled out Iran getting nuclear weapons.

Iran denies seeking a weapon but Israel says they are lying and seek a bomb to destroy the Jewish State.

"The prime minister is in a win-win situation," Al-Monitor quoted a Netanyahu associate as saying.

"If Trump achieves a nuclear agreement with Iran, it can be assumed that it will be a much better agreement than Obama's agreement, and Netanyahu believes that a large part of Israel's demands for such an agreement will be fulfilled thanks to its cooperation with the United States," the source added, speaking on condition of anonymity."

Trump signed a directive restoring the so-called maximum pressure policy on Iran of his first term and warned of "catastrophic" consequences if Tehran does not make a deal on its nuclear program.

Shortly after he said any reports of a devastating US-Israeli attack on Iran were "greatly exaggerated". Iran's Supreme Leader still promptly ruled out talks with Trump, saying they would be "neither wise, intelligent nor honorable."

The Netanyahu associate cited by Al-Monitor said US forces would help any Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites if talks fail.

"In this case, the gates of hell will be opened for Iran, but this time really. Trump will give Netanyahu the green light, and the Americans will not stand idly by, but will help Israel with whatever it takes for such an attack to succeed."

"Supporting the Islamic Republic in any form, through negotiations or financial relief, betrays the Iranian people and strengthens a dictatorship that will never reform," she said in a post on X.

"Western policymakers must learn from past mistakes," she added in a shark rebuke to the idea of talks mooted by US President Donald Trump.

"The 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) failed because it provided a financial lifeline of billions of dollars to the regime, which it spent on its military and security forces rather than improving the lives of ordinary Iranians," she added.

Trump pulled out of that international deal in 2018 and imposed his so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions, which he renewed this month.

Still, Trump said he much preferred a deal over Iran's disputed nuclear program over any military action.

Alinejad, who is based in the United States, is a prominent voice advocating for women's rights and the overthrow of Iran's nearly 50-year-old theocracy. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has plotted to kill her in exile, US law enforcement alleges.

She is in Germany for the Munich Security Conference, the premier annual forum for discussion of international security policy among top leaders.

For the third consecutive year, the organizers have excluded Iranian government representatives.

"I am pleased that Javad Zarif and Abbas Araghchi have been excluded from this conference despite all their efforts," she told Iran International in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.

"This is a positive step, but it is not enough. The West must take more fundamental steps to expel and isolate this terrorist government from all global arenas, which is certainly not an easy task," she added.

In a video post on X the previous night, referring to Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi's exclusion from the event, Alinejad said, "The exclusion of one of the opponents of the Islamic Republic from the Munich Security Conference is unacceptable."

Rafael Grossi said members of the IAEA Board of Governors have requested a comprehensive report on Iran's nuclear program which is likely to be issued later than the board meeting in March.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Grossi said Iran would likely have about 250 kg of uranium enriched to up to 60% by the time of the agency's next report in the coming weeks.

"I think we are running out of time, but it doesn't mean that we can't do it fast."

Grossi warned that "the rapid acceleration of uranium enriched up to 60% purity is a sign that should be taken very seriously."

Last month, the UN nuclear watchdog's chief said that the agency does not have evidence that Tehran is building a nuclear weapon, but Iran is not fully cooperating with the IAEA.

In his interview with reporters on Friday, Grossi said, “the IAEA is there and has all the information and elements, but when it comes to the policy it's up to the countries."

Grossi said he still has not been able to have political consultations with the new US administration on the issue of Iran and is waiting for President Donald Trump to introduce his special envoy for Iran.

Amid global concerns over Tehran's nuclear program, Trump has expressed interest in achieving a deal with the clerical establishment, saying he believes that the Islamic Republic would love to make a deal with the United States.

The alternative to a deal, he said, is airstrikes against the country's nuclear sites.

Israeli officials have repeatedly raised the possibility of military action against Iran’s nuclear program, but Trump has insisted that he hopes a deal over Iran's nuclear program would make it so that the United States did not have to support an Israeli attack on Iran.

'Israel's top priority'

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar stressed at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons remains Israel's highest priority.

He warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat not only to Israel but also to Europe and the wider Middle East.

While recognizing diplomacy as a possible solution, Saar cautioned against reviving the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) without major revisions. He said that achieving this goal through political means would be beneficial but emphasized that any new agreement must be substantially different.

Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, but Israel has long contended that a bomb in the hands of its arch-enemy poses an existential threat.

"We are committed to bringing the Iranians to going back to 100,000 barrels per day of exports, as when Trump left office," Bessent told Fox News in an interview.

"Their economy is quite fragile right now. They have massive inflation, they have the gigantic budget deficit ... if we get them back to the Trump 1.0 levels. I believe that they will be in severe economic distress."

Iran exports around 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), with China by far the biggest buyer. The so-called "maximum pressure" campaign of US sanctions on Iran starting in 2018 during Trump's first term brought exports to as low as 200,000 bpd.

Trump this month reinstated the so-called "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran from his first term, with the stated aim of driving its oil sales to zero.

Beset said the proceeds from oil sales fund Iran's "terrorist activities around the world" and described purchases by China and India as unacceptable.

The US dollar reached a new high against Iran’s currency this week and the current annual inflation rate has hovered at around 40% since 2019 according to official figures, with prices for food and other essentials rising sharply.

A series of stepped-up US sanctions beginning in October on Russian and Iranian tankers, companies and entities facilitating their oil trade is increasingly hampering oil exports which are the main source of revenue for both countries.