Hegseth not authorized to declare war on Iran, US lawmaker says

Saudi Arabia could move toward normalization with Israel if the Jewish state successfully destroys Iran’s nuclear program without provoking retaliation, The Jerusalem Post reported on Thursday, citing unnamed Israeli officials.

“In the event that Israel actually succeeded in destroying Iran's nuclear program, some top Israeli officials believe the Saudis would be so enthusiastic about the removal of that threat that they would move to normalize with Jerusalem simply based on that radical outcome and the new cornerstone of regional stability,” the report said.

According to the report, Riyadh is not fundamentally opposed to an Israeli airstrike on Tehran’s nuclear program—so long as it fully succeeds and leaves Saudi Arabia unharmed. Their main concern is that a partial or failed strike would provoke Iranian retaliation or push Tehran to accelerate its nuclear efforts.

This risk is why Saudi Arabia continues to prefer diplomacy and has sent top officials to improve relations with Iran, the report said.

“Yet, if Israel took the high risk and rolled out a perfect outcome that did not harm Riyadh and removed the Iranian nuclear threat, the Saudis might very well shift from their risk-averse standard position to wanting to get closer to Israel as its broader protector and ally,” the report added.

What began as a pilot surveillance project in the conservative city of Isfahan is now quietly extending its reach to the Iranian capital.

The emergence of these messages in Tehran and Shiraz has triggered widespread concern that Iran’s hardline factions are laying the groundwork for a high-tech nationwide surveillance system to enforce mandatory hijab laws.

“I was visiting my father’s grave in the early hours of the morning when I received the warning,” wrote one woman posting under the handle @jesuisminaaa on X. “I sat there, crying and crushed. Someone there had reported me. How can a person think only about my headscarf in a place filled with grief?”

The message she and others received is stark: remove your hijab in public, and you may face legal action.

From cars to the streets

Since 2023, Iran’s police have used traffic cameras to detect unveiled women in cars. Registered vehicle owners receive automated warnings. If three warnings are logged, the car is impounded for up to four weeks. Tens of thousands of cars have been seized under the measure.

Many male owners report that no women—veiled or unveiled—were in their cars on the dates cited in the warning messages. Some female drivers also say they were not using their vehicles at the time the alleged violations occurred.

But the new measure, first piloted in late March in Isfahan and now rolled out in Tehran and Shiraz, represents a dramatic shift from vehicle-based enforcement to the surveillance of pedestrians with a much more advanced technology.

According to multiple experts and reports on social media, the institution is now identifying individuals by cross-referencing surveillance footage with mobile phone geolocation data, smart card usage including subway and bank cards as well as government identity databases.

The result: personalized messages delivered to women’s phones within hours of their appearances in public spaces.

Legal and ethical questions

The scale and precision of the operation have provoked an outcry from legal experts, activists and ordinary citizens.

“Law experts, please answer this: does the Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice even have legal access to people’s personal data?” wrote Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, a reformist former government spokesman and law professor on X. “Let the country be in peace!”

The head of the powerful, hardline institution is appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and appears to operate independently of the government.

Both the Minister of Telecommunications, Sattar Hashemi, and government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani have denied the administration’s involvement or authorization for the expanded surveillance.

“It has been proven that the use of force in the realms of culture and society leads to counterproductive results. In the field of education, police and judicial measures have not been effective and will not be,” the president’s deputy chief of staff for communications said in a post on X.

“Blaming the administration and the president for the costs of repeating failed experiences is both inaccurate and unethical,” Mehdi Tabatabai added.

But critics argue that even if the government, parliament and the judiciary have no direct control and are not formally endorsing the measures, they are doing little to intervene.

A nation under surveillance

In September 2024, the Supreme National Security Council quietly shelved a newly ratified stricter hijab law to avoid public backlash.

Yet the technological enforcement campaign has continued—and expanded—in a parallel track.

Some Iranians are choosing to push back.

“Most of my female passengers are unveiled,” wrote Mohammad Farahani, a disabled veteran of the Iran-Iraq War who now drives a cab in Tehran.

“I’ve received two hijab warnings," he wrote on X. "For the sake of the women of my country, I won’t care if I get a third."

The United States never confirmed its participation in the fourth round of nuclear talks with Iran initially scheduled for Saturday in Rome, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The timing and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be confirmed but are expected in the near future, the source added.

Axios earlier reported that the planned meeting was delayed, which Iran later confirmed, saying the postponement was requested by Oman.

In its report, Reuters quoted an Iranian official as saying the next round would take place on a different date “depending on the US behavior,” adding that continued US sanctions were “not helping diplomacy” to resolve the nuclear issue.

Hezbollah-affiliated outlet Al-Mayadeen also cited Iranian sources as saying the talks were postponed due to “contradictory stances” from the Trump administration and said Washington had attempted to alter the agreed-upon framework of the negotiations.

Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed that the fourth round of talks with the United States scheduled for Saturday in Rome has been postponed, adding that the delay came at the request of Oman.

“The postponement of the talks was proposed by Oman’s foreign minister, and the new date will be announced later,” spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in a statement.

“Iran’s delegation had entered the talks in good faith from the outset, with clear frameworks based on the country’s core positions and international law regarding the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the lifting of unlawful sanctions,” he said.

Baghaei criticized what he called "the contradictory approach of American decision-makers and their lack of goodwill and seriousness in advancing the path of diplomacy."

"The responsibility for the consequences and destructive effects of the contradictory behavior and provocative statements of American officials regarding Iran will lie with the American side," he added.

Baghaei said Iran remains firmly committed to pursuing result-oriented talks aimed at achieving a fair, reasonable, and lasting agreement.

Oman's foreign minister says the fourth round of Iran-US talks has been rescheduled "for logistical reasons".

"New dates will be announced when mutually agreed," Badr Albusaidi said in a post on his X account.