Iran internet curbs cost $1.5 million an hour, industry group says

The data, provided by a research group at Oregon State University, suggest that six Iranian missiles hit military targets across northern, central, and southern Israel, including what the report describes as a major air base, an intelligence facility, and a logistics center.

“The radar signatures we analyzed show definitive blast patterns at five separate military sites,” Corey Scher, a researcher with the Oregon State team, told The Telegraph. “These are consistent with missile strikes that likely occurred during the height of the conflict.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) declined to confirm or deny the reported damage. “What we can say is that all relevant units maintained functional continuity throughout the operation,” a military spokesman told The Telegraph.

The Telegraph reported that the missile strikes described in the radar data appear to be separate from the 36 previously reported impacts on residential and industrial areas, which caused widespread damage.

Iranian missile penetration increased during conflict, report says

According to The Telegraph, the proportion of Iranian missiles that penetrated Israeli air defenses increased during the war, rising from about 2 percent early in the conflict to roughly 16 percent by day seven.

The report did not offer definitive reasons for the increase, but cited expert suggestions that the causes “may include the rationing of a limited stock of interceptor missiles on the Israeli side and improved firing tactics and the possible use of more sophisticated missiles by Iran.”

Iranian officials told The Telegraph that the use of simultaneous drone and missile attacks was intended to confuse Israeli defense systems. “Many [drones] don’t even get through—but they still cause confusion,” one unnamed Iranian official said.

The Israeli media on Friday quoted a military official as saying that Iran began the conflict with around 400 missile launchers and that “we destroyed more than 200 of them, which caused a bottleneck in their missile operations.”

The same official estimated that Iran started the war with 2,000 to 2,500 ballistic missiles and is pursuing mass production that could dramatically expand its arsenal.

A more comprehensive analysis of the damage to both Israeli and Iranian infrastructure is expected from the Oregon State research group within two weeks, according to the report.

The group uses radar-based methods that detect changes in the built environment, but it acknowledged that full confirmation of military site hits would require either on-the-ground access or high-resolution satellite imagery.

Officials now cite rising demand and long-standing shortfalls in generation capacity as the cause.

The grid is unable to meet current consumption levels, prompting scheduled two-hour power outages daily, Iran's state electricity company chief, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said. “The demand exceeds production,” he said, adding that outages would decrease only if energy use fell.

“The shortages will ease whenever the energy crisis is reduced to a minimum,” he said, a vague promise that has done little to calm public anger.

Iranian citizens have begun circulating videos of renewed blackouts in cities like Ahvaz, where summer temperatures regularly exceed 50°C.

“After the war ended, the Islamic Republic went back to factory settings,” one resident said in a video sent to Iran International.

Electricity generators, once confined to bakeries, were now being used by most businesses, driving up noise and pollution, he added.

Subsidy system overhaul planned

In parallel, Mohammad Bahrami Seifabadi, a lawmaker on the parliamentary energy committee, unveiled a new two-tier pricing scheme for power and gas.

“Each person will have a fixed energy quota and pay full cost beyond that,” he said, framing it as a replacement for Iran’s current subsidies system.

“Instead of subsidizing consumption, energy support will go to each national ID and individual,” Bahrami added.

Temporary stability during war

Power outages had temporarily eased during the recent 12-day confrontation with Israel, with many workplaces shut. Officials implied the grid had improved, but analysts say the drop in usage, not any reform, was responsible.

“Power cuts during the war were because everything was closed, but the government claimed the credit,” said Reza Gheibi, an Iran International journalist. “Now the deficiencies are back in the open.”

Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi promised earlier this week that nighttime blackouts would be minimized. “If necessary, disruptions will occur more during the day,” he said in early June.

Successive Iranian summers have seen repeated electricity shortages, often described by officials as “imbalances” between supply and demand.

Energy experts attribute the crisis to underinvestment, dilapidated infrastructure, and a chronic failure to expand power generation, which is estimated to lag by roughly 14,000 megawatts.

A resident of Ahvaz said the latest outages have been especially punishing: “It feels like they are making us pay for the war with Israel.”

“Post-conflict situations must not be used as an opportunity to suppress dissent and increase repression,” the experts said in a statement, referring to the aftermath of Iran-Israel conflict which began on June 13 and ended with a ceasefire.

The experts which included UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mai Sato, said they were alarmed by reports that at least six individuals, including three Kurdish men, had been executed on charges of “espionage for Israel.”

They also cited the arrests of hundreds of people, including journalists, human rights defenders, social media users, foreign nationals — particularly Afghans — and members of ethnic and religious minorities such as Baha’is, Kurds, Balouchis and Ahwazi Arabs.

The experts expressed concern over the detention of human rights defender Hossein Ronaghi and his brother and Swedish-Iranian academic Ahmadreza Djalali who they said faced imminent execution with his whereabouts unknown.

The experts warned that Iran’s parliament was advancing legislation that would categorize intelligence activities on behalf of “hostile governments” as “corruption on earth” — a charge punishable by death under Iranian law.

“Criminalizing the sharing of information in broad language violates the rights to freedom of expression and information,” the statement said. “This legislation also represents a worrying expansion of the death penalty that violates international human rights law.”

They also condemned the deteriorating conditions of prisoners transferred from Evin Prison following Israeli strikes on its facilities.

Many detainees were moved to the Great Tehran Penitentiary and Qarchak Prison and held in inhumane conditions. The whereabouts of some prisoners remain unknown, the experts said, describing the situation as amounting to enforced disappearances.

“Iranian authorities don't tell [us] where they are being held,” Cécile’s sister Noémie told Iran International on Friday.

The couple were arrested in May 2022 while on a tourist trip to Iran.

Noémie said that since the Israeli strike, they have had only one consular visit, on July 1, when the family was relieved to learn that they were "at least still alive.”

She said that the couple had been held in Ward 209 — which operates under the oversight of Iran's Intelligence Ministry — at the time of the strike, and that they had remained there for more than three years.

“They were held in 209 for more than three years,” she said. “They were in solitary confinement several months.”

Ward 209 lies outside the prison's regular judicial oversight and has been described by Human Rights Watch as a “prison within a prison,” where detainees are frequently subjected to prolonged solitary confinement, denied legal access, and subjected to harsh interrogation that may amount to torture.

The couple were moved shortly after the blasts. “We understood [Cécile] was transferred to Qarchak prison,” Noémie said. “She was transferred to Qarchak prison for 24 hours. Then she was transferred to an undisclosed place — she was blindfolded so she doesn’t know where she is being held right now.”

“Jacques was transferred to an undisclosed location right after the bombings,” she added.

The family has not had direct contact with either of them since May 28.

Noémie said Iranian authorities recently charged the couple with “spying for Israel,” “conspiracy to overthrow the regime,” and “corruption on Earth” — charges that carry the death penalty under Iranian law.

“We don’t have more specific information. We only know a judge told them the charges,” she said.

She said the couple is not allowed independent legal representation and that “nobody has access to their case file.”

Psychological torture

During their last direct contact on May 28, Cécile told her family that a judge had warned them a verdict would be issued soon — and that it would be “very severe.”

“The judge had been telling them that for six months,” Noémie said. “Another example of psychological torture.”

Asked why Iranian authorities may be targeting the couple so harshly, Noémie said, “To put pressure on France, I assume. We don’t know what they want and why they persecute Cécile and Jacques this badly.”

She accused Iranian authorities of ongoing abuse. “The Iranian authorities are continuing to torture Cécile and Jacques psychologically after more than three years of detention in inhuman conditions, after they narrowly survived the bombings, with charges that carry the death penalty,” she said.

“They must stop trampling on Cécile and Jacques's rights, disclose their place of detention, allow them to contact their families, and above all hand them over to the French authorities as a matter of urgency.”

France has condemned the charges as politically motivated and continues to demand the couple’s immediate release. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has called the accusations “unjustified and unfounded.”

Noémie said she believes the French government is making efforts to help, but called the lack of transparency “complicated and frustrating.”

“My message to Western leaders, especially European, is that they have to work together to put an end to hostage diplomacy,” she added.

Kohler, a teacher, and Paris, her partner, are the last known French citizens held in Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron has described them as “state hostages.”

France and other European Union members accuse Iran of practicing “hostage diplomacy” — detaining foreigners to pressure Western governments.

Iran denies the accusation. Its officials say the arrests followed legal procedures and reject claims of mistreatment.

“I think here's where they should discuss the terms of, in effect, the surrender of the Ayatollahs,” Bolton said, calling for sustained pressure to build on military successes in a 12-day Israel-Iran war to pave the way for the collapse of Iran's theocracy.

Trump is due to receive Netanyahu on Monday in their first meeting since US and Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure and command centers, killing as many up to 1,200 Iranians. 24 Israelis were killed in Iranian attacks.

Netanyahu has said he will also meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

A weakened Islamic Republic

Bolton argued that the strikes which crippled key military sites and killed senior commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have pushed the Islamic Republic's leadership to the brink.

“The aerial strikes are really a substantial destabilizing factor,” he said. “They demonstrate beyond a doubt the Ayatollahs are no longer able to defend their own country. They can be pushed about at will.”

The Islamic Republic, Bolton argued, is at its most vulnerable point since the 1979 revolution, weakened not just militarily but also internally, citing longstanding discontent, particularly among youth, women, and ethnic minorities.

“We're within sight of it, which is why it would be such a tragedy to let up now and let it slip between our fingers,” said Bolton.

There have been few significant protests during or after the conflict.

Ceasefire 'mistake'

Although Bolton praised the initial decision to strike Iran’s nuclear program, he criticized the subsequent US-brokered ceasefire as “a mistake.”

“Our military knows that you don't know exactly how much damage has been done in the first hours after an attack,” he said. “We were in complete control of the skies ... (and) that gave us time ... to decide where additional attacks might be necessary.”

Instead, Bolton said the ceasefire gave Iran breathing room at a critical moment. He attributes that decision, in part, to Trump’s desire to appear as a global dealmaker.

“Trump wants a Nobel Peace Prize and I think he believes that after a very successful US military strike that he could broker it,” said Bolton. “It's always in personal terms for Trump. It's not about American national security interests or Israel or Iran, it's about what makes him look best.”

The president and Bolton spectacularly fell out in public and Trump has repeatedly insulted his ex-subordinate and pulled his government security detail.

Bolton accused the administration of prioritizing loyalty and optics over expertise, pointing to Trump’s appointment of real estate developer Steve Witkoff as Iran envoy.

“Trump's negotiator, Steve Witkoff… has no concept what he's dealing with when he negotiates with the Ayatollahs, no knowledge of nuclear weapons or the risk of nuclear proliferation,” said Bolton.

Critics have raised concerns about 900 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent that remains unaccounted for. Bolton said strikes on Esfahan and other sites likely destroyed key elements required to turn that material into a weapon.

“They may have a lot of partially enriched uranium hexafluoride gas,” he said, “but it's a long way to go from that to actually making a nuclear weapon.”