Netanyahu, Trump plotted to topple Tehran before 12-day war, IRGC says

"Negotiation is a fundamental tool for securing national interests and security. There are two ways to achieve your aims: war or negotiation. And negotiation is, of course, the less costly option," Abbas Araghchi told students at a speech in Hamedan in Western Iran.

"That said, we should not be afraid of war or of fighting; if we are afraid, war will be imposed on us," he added. "The best way to deter war is to be prepared for it."

A 12-day conflict launched by Israel in June killed hundreds of Iranian military personnel and civilians and was capped off by US strikes on three nuclear sites. Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.

Still, the impasse over Iran's disputed nuclear program persists. Tehran denies seeking a bomb but Western powers and Israel doubt its intentions.

European countries and the United States have called for renewed talks between Washington and Tehran, but Iran says it will not renounce domestic uranium enrichment or discuss its missile program and its support for regional armed groups.

Iran, Aragchi added, had “tested negotiations with the United States in different circumstances and never achieved positive results.” 

Referring to a 2015 nuclear deal, he said, “America unilaterally withdrew and reinstated sanctions.”

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Araghchi said Iran’s foreign policy rests on independence from both East and West. “We do not trust any country,” he said. “However, we have strategic partnerships with some, including China and Russia, and continue our cooperation within that framework.”

Turning to nuclear policy, he reaffirmed Iran’s continued adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, citing a religious decree prohibiting nuclear weapons. 

The Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) conducted the survey in September for the report "Iranians’ Attitudes Toward the 12-Day War" published on Wednesday.

It said it had carried out a "balanced statistical sample" of just over literate Iranian residents inside the country, adding the effort reflects the opinions of people aged 15 and older and reflect the views of the target population with a 95% credibility level.

GAMAAN director Ammar Maleki is an assistant professor of comparative politics at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and the national representative of Iran for the World Association of Public Opinion Research.

Direct talks

51% of respondents believed that Israel "was successful and achieved its objectives" in the conflict, while just 16% thought Tehran had been more successful and 19% said neither side had achieved its goals.

About 62% agreed Iran should negotiate directly with the United States to resolve its disputes," while 22% opposed direct talks.

Opinions on the missile program were polarized: 46% believed "Iran’s missile program has increased the country’s security," while 43% disagreed.

On uranium enrichment, 47% agreed that "to prevent another war, Iran should stop enriching uranium," while 36% disagreed.

When asked about the likelihood of a similar war occurring in the future, 34% rated the chance as "very likely" and 26% as "somewhat likely"; in contrast, 14% saw it as "unlikely" and 8% as "very unlikely."

Postwar crackdown

The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran Mai Sato said last week that Israel likely violated international law in its military campaign in June and that Tehran had expanded domestic repression after the conflict with hundreds of executions and new curbs on dissent.

Sato urged Iran to repeal laws criminalizing peaceful expression, end the use of torture and forced confessions, and investigate deaths in custody and border killings.

Hundreds of military personnel and civilians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes while Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off-duty soldier.

In this survey conducted after the 12-Day War, the proportion of respondents favoring the overthrow of the Islamic Republic increased by 6% compared to last year, while the share favoring "structural transformation and transition" declined by 3%.

Pursue peace

A majority (69%) believed "Iran should stop calling for the destruction of Israel," while 20% opposed this idea.

Accountability emerges in GAMAAN survey, as 45% point fingers at the government for igniting the deadly spark through provocative policies.

Regarding favorability of countries, the United States received the most positive ratings (53%) and the least negative (37%) among Iranians; Israel ranked second with 39% positive and 48% negative views.

"Our missile power today far surpasses that of the 12-day war," Araghchi said in the Western city of Hamedan on Wednesday according to official media. "The enemy in the recent 12-day war failed to achieve all its objectives and was defeated."

The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Tehran over its disputed nuclear program earlier this year, for which President Donald Trump set a 60-day ultimatum.

When no agreement was reached by the 61st day Israel launched a surprise military offensive on June 13, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.

"In this war, the skies over the Zionist regime were under Islamic Republic control, and no defensive layer could stop our missiles," Araghchi said.

A ceasefire ended the 12-day conflict, but inspections of damaged sites remain suspended under Iranian law.

Hundreds of military personnel and civilians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes. Tehran responded with over 500 ballistic missiles and 1,100 drones, inflicting heavy casualties and widespread destruction, killing 32 Israeli civilians and one off-duty soldier.

On Sunday, Araghchi accused Israel of misleading Washington with what he called a fabricated nuclear threat and urged President Donald Trump to change course.

He said Israel and the US attacked Iranian nuclear sites under "false pretenses" and cited comments from the UN atomic watchdog and Oman's foreign minister confirming that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Monday ruled out any cooperation with the United States, saying every US president had demanded “Iran’s surrender” but failed.

Iran denies seeking nuclear arms and says its program is peaceful.

Tsurkov, a Princeton PhD candidate specializing in Middle East politics had traveled to Iraq using her Russian passport to study Shi'ite political movements.

She was abducted in Baghdad in March 2023, by the Iran-backed Shi'ite militia Kata'ib Hezbollah a US-designated terrorist organization.

Freed in September after a Trump administration hostage envoy traveled to Iraq in February to negotiate her freedom, she spent 903 days in captivity and now receives physical and psychological treatment in Israel and struggles to sit up due to the pain from her abuse.

Tsurkov told the US daily that she was lured into meeting a work contact who never materialized one evening before being abducted by men who threw her into a car, bound her hands and blindfolded her before taking her to an unknown location.

The militiamen initially abducted her in pursuit of a ransom, Tsurkov believes, but when they discovered from her phone that she was Israeli accused her of spying.

Tsurkov said that during the initial months of detention—and later, as captors pursued forced confessions—she endured the worst torture.

Handcuffed and hung from the ceiling, she suffered beatings, electrocution and sexual assault. “They whipped me all over,” Tsurkov said. “They basically used me as a punching bag.”

'Forced confessions'

Tsurkov shared her critical posts and writings about the Israeli government with the captors, but they were unmoved and demanded she record a confession claiming to be an Israeli and American intelligence agent.

She never fully understood her location but believed it was in a militia base near the Iranian border, as during a 12-day war in June she felt Israeli strikes apparently landing in nearby western Iran.

She told The Times she believes Israel's elimination of senior Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Iranian officials prompted the group to change course.

Tsurkov was cited as saying she decided to share her story to give voice to Iraqis tortured and killed by the Shi'ite militia.

She faces a series of injuries that make sitting up difficult and most of the time must lie down or remain reclined, added the New York Times, which had reviewed her medical records.

A prolific social media analyst, she announced her return to X last month with an animation of rapper Dr. Dre captioned "Guess who's back." Her posts frequently criticize Israeli policy.

In her first description of her captors, she decried Iran and its regional allies as "brutal ignoramuses".

"I am confident that so many of the successes Israel has had vs. the Iranian axis is not due to Israeli genius but due to the stupidity of the men who make up the rank-and-file and commanders of these militias & Iranian regime," Tsurkov wrote on X.

The plan calls for the establishment of a new international television network broadcasting in Hebrew under the aegis of state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). 

The move intends to “respond to the media propaganda of the Zionist regime and its affiliates.”

According to the IRNA news agency, the measures were ratified by the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution in September and formally signed into effect by Pezeshkian in his capacity as the council’s chairman.

The new framework assigns responsibilities across multiple ministries and state institutions, from education and culture to health and national broadcasting. 

It aims to strengthen national cohesion, promote “social resilience,” and expand coordination among universities, research institutions and the defense sector, according to the decree. 

Other provisions include initiatives to improve public morale, support families affected by recent conflict, and promote Iranian cultural and scientific achievements. 

The document also highlights investment in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, aerospace, and cybersecurity as part of Iran’s defense and innovation strategy.

Government bodies are instructed to preserve “unity and national cohesion” in the way major events are portrayed in the media, including the annual Quds Day and the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, IRIB and the Friday Prayer policy council are tasked with preventing “conflicting narratives” in public discourse, particularly concerning the recent 12-day war with Israel.

It also calls on the judiciary to prepare a “media annex” outlining penalties for individuals accused of espionage or treason and on the National Cyberspace Center to work with the courts to counter “those spreading fear and despair” online.

Religious institutions, mosques and volunteer networks such as the Basij are also expected to take part in fostering what the document calls a “spirit of national solidarity, empathy and resistance to oppression.”

State television is directed to feature more academic experts and cultural figures to explain key national events and “analyze scientifically the 12-day defensive war,” which officials have framed as a symbol of national unity and deterrence capability.