Iran deployed Swedish gangs to target enemies abroad - broadcaster

"There are a small number of unconfirmed reports of Americans being detained and imprisoned," the report said, citing the cable.

US diplomats are following up on these reports, the cable said, acknowledging that many Americans are in harm's way as Donald Trump considers military action against Iran.

Many of the US citizens who were leaving Iran faced delays and harassment, the Washington Post reported, citing the cable.

There is no definitive count of how many US citizens remain in Iran. The State Department has said it is not offering US government-assisted departures from Iran. Spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said on Friday, “Americans seeking to depart should take advantage of existing means to leave.”

Detentions and diplomatic strain persist

Since the beginning of the Iran-Israel conflict on June 13, foreign nationals have been advised to leave Iran and avoid travelling to the country.

The Islamic Republic has a long history of detaining and convicting foreign nationals, using them as leverage in negotiations with world powers.

US permanent resident Shahab Dalili is among those known to be imprisoned in Iran.

Iran and the US broke diplomatic ties following the 1979 hostage crisis involving US diplomats in Tehran, which lasted 444 days.

US warns citizens to leave Iran as land borders remain limited

The US Virtual Embassy in Tehran urged American citizens to leave Iran immediately, citing continued airspace closures and security risks amid hostilities with Israel, according to a security alert issued on their website.

The alert said land borders with Armenia and Turkey are open, while crossings into Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan require prior government approval. The embassy warned it cannot guarantee the safety of those attempting to exit by land and noted internet disruptions and limited consular support.

US citizens were advised to prepare for emergencies and avoid relying on the US government for evacuation assistance.

"I really think this is going to end by a negotiation,” said Abrams, who served as US Special Representative for Iran from 2020 to 2021.

"They're going to lose this nuclear weapons program, and the question is whether they do it the hard way or the easy way."

Even if the Islamic Republic refuses to surrender, Abrams said more Israeli strikes—followed by a possible US attack targeting an underground nuclear facility—would eventually lead to negotiations, much the way talks settled the Iran–Iraq war.

Eliminating the underground Fordow site in central Iran would likely hinder Tehran’s ability to quickly rebuild its nuclear program but it may not necessarily prevent it from using suspected secret sites to produce nuclear weapons, a prominent nuclear expert said this week.

According to Richard Nephew, a former negotiator during the Obama administration, the United States and Israel must acknowledge that Fordow is not the only pathway for an Iranian nuclear weapons program.

Iran, he argued in a Washington Institute thinktank report, may have other centrifuges available, including at secret sites, and is “probably already at work.”

For his part, Abrams said Fordow is essential to Iran’s program and a necessary military objective, but not a total solution without a broader diplomatic or military campaign.

Abrams was a prominent advocate of preemptive military action against Iraq during George W. Bush’s presidency.

Weapons of mass destruction alleged to be held by Baghdad were never found and the invasion led to a civil war which killed several thousand US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

Trump’s two-week window is ‘strategic’

"Khamenei will soon have that choice: preserve the regime—or risk its collapse under American attack," said Abrams.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday that Trump would decide within two weeks whether to authorize a military strike on Iran.

Trump has previously given himself two-week deadlines on other major decisions—particularly related to the Russia–Ukraine war—and then failed to meet them.

Questions about how Trump will handle the conflict between Israel and Iran have swirled over the last week, and the president has yet to give a straight answer.

Based on Abrams' tenure as Trump’s Iran envoy, he sees this two-week window as a psychological negotiating tactic to throw his adversaries off balance.

It also provides the president with time to explore more options, he added, to see where negotiations may head, and to assess what Israel can accomplish on its own inside Iran.

If Israel is unable to destroy Iran’s fortified Fordow nuclear facility, Abrams believes Trump will likely order a US airstrike using bunker-buster bombs, without deploying troops. That window also allows the US to position its military assets and to give Iran a final chance to negotiate.

“He is moving planes and ships, particularly aircraft carriers and carrier task forces from far away into the Gulf area, the Eastern Mediterranean area, and it takes a week or 10 days,” Abrams told Eye for Iran. “So I don't read into this that he's decided not to do anything.”

“It's a way of giving yourself options until the very last minute.”

Trump’s inner circle

During his tenure as special representative on Iran, Abrams viewed influencing trusted inner-circle figures—like Pompeo during Trump’s first term—as the most effective way to shape Trump's decisions.

Trump’s decision-making is shaped by a small group of trusted advisors, not outside pressure or foreign leaders. Those around him—especially top generals and intelligence officials—play a key role in what happens next.

Currently, his trusted circle, according to Abrams, includes Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio, Generals Kane and Kurilla, and CIA Director Ratcliffe—all of whom remain deeply committed to preventing a nuclear Iran.

“I think he's paying a lot of attention to these two top generals—General Kane, who's the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and General Kurilla, who's the head of CENTCOM, both very experienced four-star generals,” Abrams said.

The generals do not make their opinions known, but from what Abrams gathers, they tend to have a more aggressive stance on Iran and its proxies.

As tensions escalate and the clock on Trump’s two-week window ticks down, all eyes are on Fordow—and on Tehran’s next moves.

“In addition to its nuclear program, Iran pursues one of the most extensive missile programs in the Middle East,” Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), equivalent to the FBI in the US, asserted last week.

“Procurement activities in Germany in the area of Iranian missile technology/missile programs remain high – and are on the rise.”

The report added that Iran continued to violate key commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), prompting the EU to maintain a partial embargo banning the transfer of sensitive goods, weapons, and delivery systems.

Calls for snapback sanctions

In May, Austria’s intelligence service concluded that Iran’s nuclear weapons development is “well advanced” and that it now has a growing arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads.

On June 12, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) censured Tehran for failing to meet its safeguard obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“The E3 (Britain, France and Germany) should invoke the snapback sanctions mechanism,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Iran International.

“Invoking snapback would restore previous UN Security Council resolutions requiring Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment and reinforce the US position of zero enrichment in Iran,” he added, pointing out that snapback would also reinstate the arms embargo and missile restrictions.

Espionage, repression, regional threats

The report also named Iran, along with Russia, China, and Turkey, as among the top four states conducting espionage, cyberattacks, influence operations, and proliferation inside Germany.

Each country, it noted, pursues different priorities.

Proliferation was defined as acquiring products and knowledge for weapons of mass destruction, delivery systems, and other advanced military technologies. Iran was mentioned 84 times in the 412-page report, which outlines threats to German democracy.

It also condemned Tehran’s domestic crackdown and support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Due to the violent actions of Iranian security forces within the country and the support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU imposed further sanctions against the country in 2023 and 2024,” the report said.

German-Iranian political scientist Dr. Wahied Wahdat-Hagh told Iran International that Berlin is increasingly alarmed by Tehran’s continued defiance. He said snapback under UNSCR 2231 is likely unless Iran yields to US demands.

He also warned that Iran’s missile program poses a threat to Europe, citing its threats to close the Persian Gulf, disrupt global markets, and target countries allied with Israel.

Iran International contacted Israeli officials for comments on the German findings. No response was received at the time of publication.

“I want total and complete victory,” Trump said in Washington, dismissing any notion of a ceasefire and suggesting Iran had asked for talks. “They should have negotiated sooner.”

The president said Iranian officials had even proposed a visit to the White House, a remark later denied by Iran’s UN mission in New York.

The statements came as ABC News reported that Trump was increasingly open to a military strike on Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site, citing a source familiar with current intelligence.

Democratic senators call for legal authority

Five senior Senate Democrats issued a joint statement criticizing what they called the administration’s “lack of preparation, strategy, and clearly defined objectives” on Iran.

“The United States cannot sleepwalk into a third war in as many decades,” the senators wrote, warning Trump against bypassing congressional approval.

“By law, the president must consult Congress and seek authorization if he is considering taking the country to war," they said.

“He owes Congress and the American people a strategy for US engagement in the region.”

The signatories included Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Chris Coons, Mark Warner, Jack Reed, and Patty Murray.

Iran vows response if provoked

Iran’s UN ambassador in Geneva warned that any trace of US involvement in Israeli attacks would trigger retaliation.

Mojtaba Ranjbar, a Iranian cleric, said, “If the United States targets the Supreme Leader, Iran will strike Washington and New York.”

Trump described Iran as “totally defenseless,” intensifying speculation over imminent military action.

With threats traded and authorizations absent, the risk of open conflict is rising as Washington and Tehran continue to exchange warnings without resolution.

US President Donald Trump had left the summit early to address the crisis but not before signing off to a relatively diplomatic joint statement that backed Israel's right to self-defense and criticized Iran but mooted a resolution.

"We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East," the wealthy democracies said.

But Trump ratcheted up his rhetoric on Tuesday, noting "we" - Israel and the United States - had gained control of Iran's air space, suggesting Iran's Supreme Leader could be easily killed and demanding "unconditional surrender" in social media posts.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned harshly against seeking to topple Tehran's ruling theocratic system by first, citing cautionary tales in recent Mideast history.

"The biggest error would be to use military strikes to change the regime because it would then be chaos,” Macron said.

“Does anyone think that what was done in Iraq in 2003 was a good idea? Does anyone think that what was done in Libya the next decade was a good idea? No!” he added.

“We don’t want Iran to get a nuclear weapon. But our responsibility is to return discussions as quickly as possible.”

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pushed back against suggestions that US President Donald Trump is planning imminent military intervention in Iran, following Trump’s calls on Monday for the evacuation of Tehran’s 10 million residents and his late-night convening of the US National Security Council in the White House Situation Room.

“There is nothing the president said that suggests he’s about to get involved in this conflict,” Starmer told reporters, adding that there was “no doubt in my mind” based on his dinner discussion with Trump on Monday that he sought de-escalation.

"I'm no supporter of the regime in Iran," told the BBC. Asked if he would support a popular uprising, the prime minister demurred.

"Look, it's not for me as the UK prime minister to start, you know, encouraging people in relation to what they might do at home. My absolute focus is on the need to deescalate this."

Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz offered a more hedged view, praising Israel for doing "the dirty work" by confronting Iran, also a Western foe.

Israel, he added, likely could not destroy Iran’s fortified nuclear facility at Fordow without US firepower. “The Israeli army is obviously unable to accomplish that. It lacks the necessary weapons. But the Americans have them,” Merz told broadcaster ZDF.

On the possibility of the United States joining the fight, Merz said, “we have talked about this.” That decision, he added, depends on whether the Iranian regime “is prepared to return” to the negotiating table.