Iran steps up pressure on slain protesters’ families in post-war crackdown

Ali Larijani briefed Vladimir Putin on the Iranian officials’ assessments regarding the escalating crisis in the Middle East and developments related to Iran’s nuclear program, the Russian state news agency RIA said citing Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

Sky News reported on Sunday that Iran and the European troika are set to hold nuclear talks next Sunday in Geneva.

In his meeting with Larijani, Putin reaffirmed Russia’s support for a political resolution to concerns over Iran’s nuclear activities and also regional stability, according to Peskov.

Putin’s remarks came almost a month after the end of Israel’s 12-day military campaign against Iran, a conflict that sharpened Tehran’s concerns about future strikes and sparked widespread criticisms in Iran about Russia's alleged failure to support its ally.

Last month, the Russian president told Iran’s foreign minister in Moscow that Israel's "absolutely unprovoked aggression against Iran is unfounded and unjustified." However, Putin stopped short of directly calling out the United States or Israel for attacking Iran.

On June 19, the Russian president refused to speculate on the possibility of Israel or the US targeting Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. "I do not wish even to discuss such a possibility," he told Reuters.

One day later, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told Sky News that Russia would react "very negatively" if Khamenei was killed. He also dismissed the idea of a regime change in Tehran, calling it "unimaginable".

"It should be unacceptable, even talking about that should be unacceptable for everyone," Peskov said, in a thinly veiled reference to Washington.

Iran-Russia naval drills

Iran and Russia will begin a joint naval exercise in the Caspian Sea on Monday, July 21, part of a three-day drill aimed at boosting maritime safety and regional cooperation, Iranian state media reported.

The CASAREX 2025 search-and-rescue exercise, hosted by Iran’s Navy, will include units from the Iranian Army and IRGC naval forces, Iran’s national police, and the Russian Navy, with observers from other Caspian littoral states.

Held under the slogan “Together for a Safe and Secure Caspian Sea,” the drill is designed to enhance coordination and operational readiness among coastal nations, IRGC media reported.

In a bulletin published on Sunday, Sobhe Sadegh, the daily outlet of the IRGC’s political department, described the prospect of renewed UN sanctions as a multidimensional threat and said policymakers must focus on preparing the public and economic actors rather than relying on hopeful messaging.

“A change in the tone of policy—from absolute hope-building to psychological readiness—is essential,” the outlet said.

The daily also warned that activation of the UN snapback mechanism could carry severe legal, economic, and social consequences for Iran.

The comments come amid growing concern in Tehran that Britain, France, and Germany may move to trigger the snapback mechanism before the 2015 nuclear deal’s 10-year term expires in October.

Once activated, the mechanism would restore all UN sanctions on Iran without the possibility of veto from Russia or China.

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  No easy way out: pessimism grows in Tehran as Europe hardens stance

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  Tehran anxiety grows as Europe moots sanctions snapback

Iran, E3 agree to hold talks soon

Meanwhile, a source quoted by the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency said Iran has reached an agreement in principle with the three European countries to hold negotiations, though discussions are ongoing about time and location.

“There is agreement on holding the negotiations, but consultations on where and when are ongoing,” the source said.

However, Sky News reported on Sunday that Iran and the European troika are set to hold talks next Sunday in Geneva.

Officials warn of retaliation

On the other hand, lawmakers from Iran’s Parliament National Security and Foreign Policy Committee repeated Tehran’s position that any effort to revive UN sanctions would prompt a response.

“Europeans have no right to consider reactivating snapback sanctions when they themselves failed to meet their JCPOA obligations,” said committee member Vahid Ahmadi in an interview with Didban Iran.

“The Islamic Republic has prepared responses and will implement corresponding actions.”

Tehran's preconditions for nuclear talks

Ahmadi listed three conditions for Iran’s return to the negotiating table: condemnation of recent US and Israeli attacks on Iran, recognition of war-related damages, and guarantees against future aggression.

“If the West expects Iran to come back to the negotiating table, it must first recognize and rectify the aggression committed against us,” Ahmadi added. “There must be international condemnation, a clear assessment of the damages, and credible guarantees that our sovereignty won’t be violated again.”

MP says snapback is 'psychological ploy'

Committee member Esmail Kowsari dismissed the snapback threat as a “psychological ploy,” though Sobhe Sadegh warned that failure to manage expectations could intensify inflation and trigger capital flight.

The outlet proposed measures including new taxes and restrictions on foreign transactions.

“If the Westerners are acting in good faith, they must first condemn the aggressions and crimes of the United States and the Zionist regime, and only then speak of negotiations. We have not walked away from the negotiating table and have acted based on logic and the law. Even now, if they intend to make threats, the Iranian nation is prepared,” he added.

"If the enemies move toward using force," Kowsari warned, “they will undoubtedly face a firm and severe response. We will make important decisions and will not allow the security and authority of the Iranian nation to be undermined.”

“This cycle, this repeating pattern – whose first victims are always children – will only end with the fall of the Islamic Republic,” Ebadi wrote on social media on Sunday, calling the incident “a continuation of state crimes.”

The victims, including Raha Sheikhi, were killed on July 16 when armed forces opened fire on a family vehicle. Authorities have yet to provide public evidence or detailed explanation.

Accusing the government of weaponizing security to suppress its own people after military setbacks abroad, Ebadi likened the killings to the death ofnine-year-old Kian Pirfalak, who was killed during the 2022 anti-government protests when forces opened fire on his family’s car in Izeh, Khuzestan province.

“The regime fears transparency, avoids accountability, and answers with bullets,” she wrote, warning that Iran is being turned into a military zone under the guise of national security.

Public anger is rising in Iran after security forces opened fire on two cars near a military base in Khomein, killing four members of a family — including three-year-old Raha Sheikhi.

Local officials confirmed the deaths of Mohammad-Hossein Sheikhi, his wife Mahboubeh, their daughter Raha, and Farzaneh Heidari, a relative. Authorities say the vehicles were deemed "suspicious," and a judicial probe is underway.

The shooters' affiliation has not been officially disclosed, but social media accounts linked to the family allege that Basij forces were responsible.

"Some of our air defenses were damaged, this is not something we can hide, but our colleagues have used domestic resources and replaced them with pre-arranged systems that were stored in suitable locations in order to keep the airspace secure," Mousavi added.

During the June conflict, Israel's air force took control of Iranian airspace, delivering a significant blow to the country's air defenses, while Iran's armed forces responded with successive waves of missile and drone attacks on Israeli territory.

“We were able to cover the skies using existing and new systems, securing the airspace of our dear Iran,” he said. “The enemy, despite its desperate efforts, failed to achieve its goals.”

Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, also echoed that message. “Air defense proved on the front lines of protecting Iran’s skies that it will resist any level of threat,” he said. “Downing so many enemy aircraft shows the courage and will of our defenders.”

Iran says it has downed several Israeli fighter jets but has not provided any footage or additional details.

Israeli forces struck targets across Iran freely during the 12-day war, including in and around the capital.

Israeli military officials say that 120 air defense systems were destroyed or disabled since the first wave of attacks—around a third of Iran’s pre-war total. Long-range systems, including Russian-supplied S-300s and Iran’s Bavar-373 batteries, were among those targeted.

“Iran relied on a fragmented mix of Russian S-300s, Chinese batteries, and local Bavar-373 systems – none of which were adequately integrated… The air defense radar was Russian and Chinese made, which have known issues of target discrimination, without any integration among bases and military units,” wrote the Global Defense Corp.

Mossad operations and precision strikes

In late June, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz directed the military to prepare an enforcement plan against Iran, which includes maintaining air superiority, blocking missile development, and deterring Iran's regional activities.

The plan, according to Katz’s, aimed to ensure Israel can respond kinetically to future threats.

A security source speaking to N12 also said Mossad operatives inside Iran played a central role in shaping the battlespace, deploying loitering munitions and attack drones, and establishing a covert launch site in the heart of Iran to suppress air defenses.

The War Zone website, a resource for the defense industry, released more details of Iran’s defense being destroyed.

“Among the targets reportedly prosecuted by Israeli operatives within Iran was an air defense site near Tehran. Shortly before the operation began, Israeli drones launched from within Iran struck surface-to-air missile launchers there, clearing the way for the larger strike, which also involved Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets."

"This would also explain the apparent inactivity by Iranian air defense sites during the Israeli bombardment. At the same time, the IAF has also been flying suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) operations that the service says have destroyed “dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers,” wrote the website.

Airspace remains exposed

Iran’s geographic scale -- roughly 1.6 million square kilometers -- poses a constant challenge for integrated air defense. The Islamic Republic lacks a modern fighter fleet to complement its missile systems and has relied on Cold War-era aircraft. Several of these have been destroyed on the ground in recent strikes, according to Israeli military imagery.

After limited Israeli strikes targeted Iranian missile factories last October, Iran later showcased Russian-made air defenses and its Bavar-373 system to project defensive strength, but Israeli aircraft, including F-35 stealth fighters, encountered little documented resistance during the 12-day conflict.

Details released Saturday night -- despite tight security censorship in Israel over last month’s conflict with Iran -- revealed that in January, the military intelligence team issued an early warning following advances in Iran’s weapons program.

"The nuclear team in the Control Department issues a concrete warning about the launch of a coordinated project to produce the final stage required for launching a nuclear missile in Iran," it said.

Around the same time, the research division of Israel’s military intelligence also issued a warning, identifying a covert team of Iranian nuclear scientists allegedly working on previously undeveloped components needed to complete the final stage of a nuclear missile launch.

The head of military intelligence, Shlomi Binder, established a special team with several tech experts with an emphasis on nuclear weapons to plan the attacks on Iran's nuclear infrastructure. They also focused on how to do simultaneous assassinations of the country's military and nuclear chiefs.

In May, Binder issued his own warning to the political echelon: "I would like to alert decision-makers to disturbing developments in the field of nuclear weapons in Iran. It appears that Iran is continuing to make determined progress that is shortening the technological and cognitive distance required to complete the development of a nuclear weapons device.”

On June 13, Israel launched a series of surprise attacks which led to the deaths of around 30 military commanders and nuclear scientists and a 12-day war which caused widespread destruction to both sides.

As the fragile ceasefire holds by a thread, the United States is now awaiting Iran’s return to the negotiating table for a new nuclear agreement. Both Washington and Tel Aviv have warned that failure to reach a deal could trigger further military strikes.