Air defenses activated as strikes continue in Tehran

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Thursday that Tehran has so far exercised restraint in the face of regional conflict, warning the United States against further escalation.

"We have shown self-restraint in response to the expansion of war in the region," Ghalibaf said in remarks reported by Iranian media.

Addressing the United States, he added: "The delusional American president should know he cannot impose peace on us through imposed war and threats."

Change or fall of the Islamic Republic establishment is not a goal but could be a result of the conflict between Iran and Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview with Israeli public broadcaster Kan.

He added that the matter is for the Iranian people to decide, saying, “There is no substitute for this.”

He added that Israel has destroyed over half of Iran’s missile launchers.

“We’re striking [Iran’] launchers. It doesn’t matter so much how many rockets they have. What matters is how many launchers they have — and we’re already getting there. I think we’ve already passed the halfway mark of the launchers they have.”

US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi have held multiple phone conversations since the Iran-Israel conflict erupted last week, aiming to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, Reuters reported on Thursday.

Citing three unnamed diplomats, the report said Araghchi told Witkoff that Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel halted its attacks on the Islamic Republic.

The talks also touched on a US proposal from late May to create a regional uranium enrichment consortium outside Iran, which Tehran has rejected.

Israel's military campaign against Iran targets more than nuclear and missile infrastructure and aims to weaken Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule to the point of collapse, a Reuters analysis said.

The article cited Israeli, Western and regional officials as saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking lasting concessions from Iran on enrichment, missiles, and regional militancy.

Israeli strikes have expanded to state institutions and top security officials, while US President Donald Trump weighs military involvement but remains open to talks.

Still, the collapse of the Islamic Republic establishment remains unlikely without a ground invasion or uprising, according to the officials.

Persian Gulf and Western powers fear that forced regime change could unleash chaos across the region, the report added.

"Iran isn't just facing Israel," said Alex Vatanka, director of the Washington-based Iran Program at the Middle East Institute. "It’s facing off the United States and European powers."

Iran, long seen as a rising regional power, is contending with a new Middle East reality marked by evolving alliances, according to a Time magazine analysis published on Thursday.

The analysis said that while Iran's "Axis of Resistance" and its opposition to Israel have been central to its post-1979 revolutionary ideology, the recent conflict with Israel has shown a different dynamic.

Time suggests Iran's leadership prioritized "the preservation of the system," leading to continued investment in its nuclear program for survival.

The analysis pointed to wealthy Persian Gulf states increasingly aligning with Israel due to a shared animosity towards Tehran, a development exemplified by the Abraham Accords and Saudi Arabia's signals towards normalization.

This shift, Time concludes, outlines a new regional landscape where Arab nations are actively participating in intercepting Iranian missiles targeting Israel.