New Iran espionage law halted for review, slowing post-war crackdown

“Trump has done something so that he can no longer sunbathe in Mar-a-Lago," Mohammad-Javad Larijani, a former senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said in an interview with state TV that has recently gone viral on social media.

"As he lies there with his stomach to the sun, a small drone might hit him in the navel. It’s very simple,” added Larijani, whose two brothers are among the Islamic Republic’s most powerful political figures.

Iranian clerics have called on Muslims to kill Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in retaliation for their threats on the life of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the conflict.

US forces attacked three Iranian nuclear sites in a bid to disable Tehran's disputed program days after Trump said Washington was well aware of where Khamenei was sheltering during the war.

Larijani's comments came after an online platform calling itself "blood pact" began raising funds for what it calls “retribution against those who mock and threaten the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.” The site says to have collected over $40 million to date.

It was not immediately possible to verify the authenticity of the figure.

Bounty for Trump’s head

“We pledge to award the bounty to anyone who can bring the enemies of God and those who threaten the life of Ali Khamenei to justice,” a statement on the site said.

The campaign's stated aim is to raise $100 million for the killing of Donald Trump. It remains unclear who operates the site.

However, Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported the launch of the Blood Pact initiative and called on religious groups in Iran and abroad to rally in front of Western embassies and central squares to express support for Khamenei.

The outlet also urged the application of “Islamic rulings on moharebeh” against both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the Iranian legal system, moharebeh—literally “waging war against God”—is punishable by death.

President Masoud Pezeshkian sought to distance his government from the campaign, telling US commentator Tucker Carlson on Monday that “the fatwa of warfare has nothing to do with the Iranian government or the Supreme Leader.”

But Kayhan newspaper, overseen by a representative of Khamenei, dismissed the president's remark.

“This is not an academic opinion. It is a clear religious ruling in defense of faith, sanctities and especially the guardianship of the jurist,” it wrote in a Tuesday editorial, referring to Iran's system of clerical rule.

Any future “fire-starter” would face retaliation, the newspaper added concluding that “The Islamic Republic will drown Israel in blood.”

Former lawmaker Gholamali Jafarzadeh Imenabadi earlier condemned Kayhan’s position, saying: “I can’t believe Kayhan’s editor-in-chief Hossein Shariatmadari is Iranian ... saying Trump should be assassinated will bring the cost down on the people.”

In response, Kayhan wrote: “Today, avenging Trump is nearly a national demand. It is Imenabadi’s words that are out of step with Iranian values."

Trump has been a target for assassination threats since he ordered the 2020 killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq.

Last year, US law enforcement accused the IRGC of organizing a plot to kill Trump in retaliation for his order to assassinate Soleimani.

Many are convinced it will start again.

“More homes will collapse. More people will die,” says Masoud, the electrician fixing the lights in our building’s corridors. “We have our carry-on ready by the door.”

Fears aren’t as sharp as last week, but many in the neighborhood still talk about safe and unsafe spots. The strike on Evin Prison—and the video of a blast at a busy junction in northern Tehran—hammered home the reality of war.

“We were at my in-laws’, right next to the prison. We thought it was the safest place—no way they’d hit a prison. But they did,” says Shadi, who lives with her husband and their two children in the apartment above us.

“The chandelier broke off and glass shattered everywhere. My son and his grandma had surface cuts. It could have been far worse.”

The prison bombing has seeded a new fear, Shadi says. “If even the prison isn’t safe, then what is? Not hospitals, not universities, not schools, not kindergartens.”

Kindergarten—that’s another image that cannot be unseen: shattered dolls and toys flung across the room. By sheer chance, it had closed 15 minutes before impact.

'Did they hit again?'

Officials say over 3,200 residential units were destroyed in Tehran. Thousands are now homeless. The wreckage has chipped away at war supporters.

One of them is a close friend of mine from university—Yara.

Before, when I warned that war meant destruction, he’d say: “This isn’t war. It’s just precision strikes against officials and bases, not civilians.”

Yara was lucky not to be physically hurt, but he was close enough to enough loud explosions to have nightmares—per his partner.

“He still jumps up at night and asks me, zadan (did they hit?)”

'They're still here'

Not all war supporters have changed their minds. In many homes, even emotional bonds were frayed under the bombs. When the ceasefire came, some were relieved, others angry.

“We endured the war, and they’re still here,” you hear many say.

They—who are still here—refers to Iran’s ruling elite, the Islamic Republic, the regime, as many prefer to call it.

Quite a few people I know hoped a few days of bombing would force the regime to collapse or walk away. The further you get from the epicenter, the deeper the divide, perhaps because you haven’t heard the blasts or watched the walls crumble.

I remember a conversation on day two of the war, before the full fear had set in. I asked a cousin and his wife to leave Tehran with us, for the sake of their kids.

“What if there are evacuation alerts like Beirut?” I implored. “Tehran will lock down. You won’t be able to leave.”

They refused, pointing me to their conversations with ChatGPT.

In the worst-case scenario, you could grab your bag and walk a couple of blocks to safety, they argued. “Any such alert would cover a couple of alleys at most. That’s what a precision strike is.”

ChatGPT had reassured them.

A new reality

Later, they told me what happened when evacuation orders hit districts six and seven—two major parts of the city. They had stayed. We had left.

“People were fleeing in panic in the middle of the night. Car horns nonstop,” my cousin’s wife said. “I sat in the car with my head in my hands, hoping nothing would explode nearby.”

That’s everyone’s fear these days—that the pause in fighting ends and they, or someone they love, are near an unannounced target of another “precision strike.”

And then there are the costs few talk about.

Many companies have laid off staff. It’s peak moving season in Tehran—leases ending, rents rising. People don’t know whether to stay, sign, or leave.

We thought we were used to suspended life—constant inflation, sudden, irreversible shifts in the economy and politics. But this is something else. A new phase entirely.

"Our so-called enemies were watching. They watched every minute of it," Trump said at a televised Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

"It was a perfect military performance, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time," he added recalling the operation codenamed Midnight Hammer.

“What was demonstrated on the world stage was American military might and capability,” Pete Hegseth said in his brief before the president spoke.

“It was not just Fordow and Isfahan and Natanz, but the whole world took notice of that.”

The June 22 strikes targeted Iran's three key nuclear sites with bunker-buster bombs. It was hailed "perfect" by the Trump administration but questioned by some Democratic lawmakers citing an early intelligence assessment.

Trump rejected doubts about the strikes' impact, praising the pilots and others involved.

“Those machines flew for 37 straight hours. They didn’t stop. They went skedaddle... They dropped the bombs, and somebody said skedaddle... And every bomb hit its mark—and hit it incredibly,” he said

"They were right in the most dangerous airspace in the world…and they went right through…by the time they (Iran) found out they were there, they were already gone. That was the word, skedaddle, get the hell out of here," he added.

The request—made to Mahmoud Karimi, a hardline maddah closely aligned with Khamenei—capped not only ten days of mourning but two weeks of state-sponsored flag-waving to rally a war-worn people.

In processions that traditionally focus on the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, mourners this year chanted not just elegies, but songs about Iran and its ancient glory.

The one Khamenei called for begins with the line: “You remain in my soul and spirit, O homeland.”

Patriotism over piety

Muharram marks the death of the Shiites’ third Imam, killed in 680 CE at the Battle of Karbala.Iranians typically observe the month with processions, recitations, and rituals such as chest-beating or striking the back with chains. Events may be state-funded or grassroots.

This year, however, the ceremonies unfolded just weeks after the 12-day war with Israel and a fragile ceasefire.

State media and cultural institutions quickly moved to frame the mood, promoting a unified nationalist-religious narrative. A new slogan was emblazoned on banners, billboards, and public screens across cities: Iran, loyal to Hussein, will always prevail.

For the first time, patriotic anthems like O Iran—composed in 1944 and long associated with opposition movements—were performed during ceremonies. In previous years, such songs might have drawn censure or bans.

In many neighborhoods, the Iranian tricolor flew alongside the black and green standards of Karbala. Officials and local municipalities provided logistical and financial support to mourning groups that embraced the new tone.

State control, grassroots defiance

Khamenei’s Ashura appearance followed three nights of absence from the annual ceremonies held at his residence—an unusual break that had fueled speculation about his health.

His brief presence, and the seemingly spontaneous request for My Iran, was widely viewed as carefully orchestrated: a symbolic moment signaling that patriotic devotion now held equal standing with religious mourning in the Islamic Republic’s ideological framework.

The regime has long drawn on the defiance of Imam Hussein to frame its political posture, casting enemies such as Israel, the United States, and domestic critics as modern-day Yazids.

But Muharram has never been solely the regime’s domain. Despite increasing state choreography, it remains a space where protest and dissent can still break through.

During the widespread protests of 2022, some mourning groups adopted openly critical tones, invoking the deaths of young protesters at the hands of security forces. Echoes of that defiance surfaced again this year.

The unnamed official, speaking under customary anonymity, said that “very few” sites were hit and all remained operational.

No further details were provided by the official on the specific locations or extent of the damage.

Iran launched multiple waves of missile against Israel during the 12-day war that began on 13 June when Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian nuclear and military sites and killed several IRGC top commanders.

Iranian strikes frequently targeted major cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as military areas around Beersheba.

Several residential buildings were also hit, though the Israeli military said most of the missiles and drones were intercepted.

Iran and Israel agreed to a US-backed ceasefire on June 24 after the United States bombed the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities.

The British daily Telegraph reported on Monday that Iranian missiles struck five Israeli military facilities, citing satellite radar data reviewed by US researchers.

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.

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.