By Iqbal Suleman

The genocidal Israeli regime launched an all-out war on the Islamic Republic of Iran on Friday, June 13, in brazen contravention of international law amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

It bombed Iran’s nuclear civilian infrastructure and assassinated some veteran nuclear scientists, as well as high-ranking military commanders, in indiscriminate attacks.

Western countries have again refused to condemn these unlawful and barbaric actions by the Israeli regime led by war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, who claims to be launching this war on behalf of the “civilized West” against “barbaric Muslims.”

The reaction of Western countries indicates that they have no commitment to international law or any concern for the lives of Muslims, from Palestine to Iran to Yemen.

They urge Iran to show restraint but refuse to call out the unlawful actions of the Israeli regime. This stems from a deep-rooted Western Islamophobia. These wars against Muslim countries have been incessant after Palestine was depopulated and occupied and the Zionist entity was created through illegal means in 1948.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Iranian government and people have been the greatest supporters of the struggle for Palestinian national liberation. The people in the Global South remember the principled position taken by Iran in 1979, immediately after the revolution to cut off all economic and diplomatic relations with Apartheid South Africa and Apartheid Israel.

Iran has supported Palestinian liberation movements politically, financially, and militarily. This is the actual reason for Israel’s war on Iran. Its stated reason is to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, but its actual reason is regime change.

Iran poses no nuclear threat to Israel or any other entity in the world. Iran does not have a nuclear weapon and there is a religious decree against it in the Islamic Republic.

Israel, on the other hand, possesses nuclear weapons. The US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, told the Senate Intelligence Committee in March 2025 that the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program he suspended in 2003.”

The record shows that Netanyahu is a chronic liar, but the Western media seems to continue to peddle his lies. In two short sentences, Malcolm X describes the power of the media:

“The media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent look guilty and to make the guilty look innocent, and that’s power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

How apt and accurate are the words of the great Malcolm X. It behoves us to rewind our minds to the US invasion of Iraq and the shameful conduct of the mainstream Western media.

War, War, War, War is all you need. Remember the song by the five-piece band WAR CRIMINALS. The songwriter was Netanyahu, on vocals and lead guitar, George Bush, on rhythm guitar and vocals, Tony Blair, on drums and vocals, Donald Rumsfeld, on backing vocals and harmony Colin Powell.

They sounded awful. They were always out of tune (truth). But the mainstream media promoted their lies as though it were the gospel truth and in the process manufactured consent for the unjustified and unlawful war on Iraq.

After the 9/11 attacks in the US, the mainstream media went into overdrive in pushing the narrative of the Muslim terrorist and the “war on terror.” This “war on terror” was used as a means to advance the Islamophobia project.

The language and the imagery used by the media were powerful and repetitive until the construct of the Muslim terrorist was firmly entrenched in the public mind.

The medieval Mideasterner, primitive, dirty, and bloodthirsty, seeking to impose “Sharia law” in the West and wanting to slaughter all Westerners. There was no mistaking who the terrorist was. He wore a beard. She wore a headscarf.

The public mind was conned into believing this Islamophobic trope and bought into the justification of the unlawful wars. Mainstream outlets like the New York Times, BBC, and CNN showed that they lacked the basic journalistic methods that a student learns in Journalism 101.

It was 2003 when the American-led invasion and occupation of Iraq took place. An atrocious war that, according to the medical journal Lancet, killed approximately 600,000 Arab Muslim people in Iraq. The war created 3.9 million Iraqi refugees.

The stated reason for the war was that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and was about to produce nuclear weapons. The other stated reason was that the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, once the darling of the West, had an operational relationship with Al Qaeda and was somehow linked with the September 11 attacks on the US.

The illegal war was based on lies. By repeating these lies and flooding the public mind, the mainstream media succeeded in manufacturing consent for war.

The prime mover orchestrating the war against Iraq was Netanyahu, who in 2002 stated that “There is no question whatsoever that Saddam is seeking, is wanting, and is advancing towards the development of nuclear weapons.”

Today, the very same Netanyahu is the one who claims that Iran is a nuclear threat and has brazenly launched an unlawful war on another Muslim country.

His lies are repeated like a mantra in mainstream media. Netanyahu has been telling the world for the last three decades that Iran is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon.

What are the facts though? Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has pronounced that it is immoral, unlawful, and un-Islamic to produce a nuclear weapon.

Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is for civilian use only. Iran abided by the terms of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), which was signed in 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, including the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, and France, as well as the European Union.

It was, however, the United States that unilaterally tore up the agreement that it was a signatory to. Under the JCPOA, the inspectors from the IAEA had unfettered access to all of Iran’s nuclear facilities and there was transparency on Iran’s nuclear programme.

In 2002, Iraq complied with the terms of UN resolution 1441, but America, without any consideration to international law, went to war with Iraq at the behest of Israel.

Even according to US intelligence agencies, Iran is not on the verge of producing a nuclear weapon as Netanyahu would have us believe. Israel, however, has a nuclear weapon. Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. It has invaded its neighbours in Lebanon and Syria. It unlawfully occupies and steals land from Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.

The Israeli regime has publicly stated that it wants to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Yet the world powers and the mainstream corporate media seem fine with a nuclear Israel behaving the way it is.

You would expect the mainstream media to question the narrative presented by the American and Israeli regimes. Surely, after the imperialist wars against Afghanistan and Iraq and the current Israeli genocide in Palestine, the public should never believe anything that seeks to justify this Islamophobic war on Iran.

The media in the West is neither independent nor cultivated by democratic values. Millions of us, as ordinary citizens from all over the world, took to the streets to oppose the American war on Iraq, but the media were not listening to the democratic voices of the people. It served the interests of its corporate and elite paymasters.

In 2002, Netanyahu, whilst zealously beating the drums of war against the Muslim people of Iraq, stated that “If you take out Saddam, Saddam’s regime, I guarantee you, it will have enormous positive reverberations throughout the region.”

Positive reverberations? Six hundred thousand Arab civilian deaths. 3.9 million refugees. The creation of the Daesh terrorist group, the spectre of head chopping, civil strife, blood everywhere, and the complete destruction of the infrastructure of the Arab country.

This is simply another Islamophobic war launched by Netanyahu and his allied criminals in the West.

In the Global South, we don’t listen to the music of war criminals. We remember the lyrics of Bob Marley: “You can fool some people some time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time, get up, stand up, stand up for your rights, get up, stand up, don’t give up the fight.”

Iqbal Suleman is a research associate at the Media Research Network, South Africa.

Press TV’s website

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the Iranian Armed Forces will act strongly and render the despicable Israeli regime helpless.

The Leader issued a message to the Iranian nation on Friday following Israel’s several acts of aggression against the country that killed civilians, scientists and military commanders.

Ayatollah Khamenei added that the Israeli regime will not escape unscathed from this crime and assured the Iranian nation that there will be no negligence in this regard.

The Leader emphasized that the evil and wicked Zionist regime has made a big mistake, the consequences of which will make it helpless.

"The great Iranian people can be assured that the Armed Forces will act powerfully in support of them and will deliver heavy blows to this regime,” Ayatollah Khamenei emphasized.

The Leader stated that the Iranian people will not let the blood of their martyrs and the aggression against the skies of the country go in vain.

Ayatollah Khamenei noted that all Iranian officials, various political factions and people from all walks of life have a common view regarding the necessity of carrying out a powerful measure in the face of the evil and terrorist Zionist regime.

There will be no compromise in the face of the Israeli regime, the Leader added.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the Israeli regime should not think that it struck and it was over.

“They (Israelis) started this work and waged the war, and we will not allow them to escape unscathed from this great crime,” the Leader pointed out.

The Leader reiterated support of the Iranian nation and officials for the Armed Forces and the Islamic Republic, saying they will defeat the Zionist regime.

Press TV’s website

Iran has earned the distinction of being the first country in the world to successfully shoot down fifth-generation fighter jets by targeting two stealth F-35 fighters belonging to the Zionist regime.

The regime deployed these advanced aircraft in its early Friday morning aggression against the Islamic Republic on Friday, which resulted in the assassination of several high-ranking Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, including women and children.

In an official statement, the Iranian Army’s Public Relations Office announced that its air defense forces had successfully struck and destroyed two F-35 fighter jets along with multiple drones belonging to the Zionist regime.

The report noted that the fate of the pilots remains unknown and is currently under investigation. Further information will be released in due course.

The F-35 fighters used by the Zionist regime are considered the most advanced in their class.

Israel acquired these jets primarily from the United States, with the F-35 Lightning II being produced by Lockheed Martin, an American aerospace manufacturer. Israel is one of the few entities authorized by the US to operate this cutting-edge fifth-generation stealth fighter.

Delivered under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, the first jets arrived in the occupied territories around 2016.

The F-35I, Israel’s customized variant of the stealth fighter, is designed to evade radar detection, allowing the Israeli occupation military to conduct deep penetration missions with a lower risk of interception or tracking.

However, in a significant setback for the Tel Aviv regime and its American backers, the Iranian Army managed to down two of these advanced jets during Friday’s confrontation.

On Saturday, reports suggested that one more F-35 jet was downed in the Iranian airspace.

Press TV’s website

Iran’s air defense forces have shot down another fifth-generation F-35 fighter jet belonging to the Zionist regime, amid the continued exchange of fire between Tehran and Tel Aviv.

The Iranian Army’s Public Relations Office said in a statement on Saturday that its air defense forces had successfully struck and destroyed another F-35 fighter jet belonging to the Israeli regime over the western part of the country.

It also noted that the fate of the pilot remains unknown and is currently under investigation.

Further information will be released in due course.

This comes a day after Iran’s air defense forces successfully brought down two F-35 fighter jets along with multiple drones belonging to the Israeli regime.

The regime deployed these advanced aircraft in its early Friday morning aggression against the Islamic Republic, which resulted in the assassination of several high-ranking Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians, including women and children.

The F-35 fighters used by the Israeli regime are considered the most advanced in their class.

Israel acquired these jets primarily from the United States, with the F-35 Lightning II being produced by Lockheed Martin, an American aerospace manufacturer. Israel is one of the few countries authorized by the U.S. to operate this cutting-edge fifth-generation stealth fighter.

Delivered under the US Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, the first jets arrived in the occupied territories around 2016.

The F-35I, Israel’s customized variant of the stealth fighter, is designed to evade radar detection, allowing the Israeli occupation military to conduct deep penetration missions with a lower risk of interception or tracking.

Press TV’s website

An independent United Nations commission has accused the Israeli regime of committing genocide by attacking civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites in Gaza.

The United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory on Tuesday accused the Israeli regime of committing genocide by targeting civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites in Gaza.

The commission, led by former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, will present its full findings to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on June 17, 2025.

"Israel has devastated Gaza's education system and destroyed over half of its religious and cultural sites," stated the UN Commission in its report.

The three-member panel accused Israeli forces of war crimes, including directing attacks against civilians and committing willful killings at educational facilities.

"In targeting civilians sheltering in schools and religious sites, Israeli security forces have committed the crime against humanity of extermination," the report concluded.

While the destruction of cultural property, such as schools, is not inherently genocidal, the commission noted that such actions may suggest an intent to destroy a protected group.

“There is mounting evidence that Israel is carrying out a deliberate and systematic campaign to eliminate Palestinian life in Gaza," said Pillay in a statement.

The report highlighted Israeli attacks on religious sites used as refuges, resulting in hundreds of deaths, including women and children.

The commission’s investigation examined attacks on schools, mosques, and cultural institutions for violations of international law. It found that Israel has destroyed over 90% of school and university buildings in Gaza and more than half of its religious and cultural sites.

Beyond Gaza, the report noted increased Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank, including East al-Quds, alongside rising harassment of students and settler violence, further damaging Palestinian education and life.

Israel withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council in February 2025, accusing it of bias.

The Israeli military resumed bombardment of Gaza on March 18, killing thousands of Palestinians, and injuring many others, after it shattered the 2-month ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives with Palestinian abductees.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 54,927 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 126,615 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.

Press TV’s website

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert says US President Donald Trump should force the Tel Aviv regime to terminate the war in the besieged Gaza Strip, given Washington’s sway over the occupying entity.

Olmert made the comment in an interview with AFP published on Tuesday as he censured the continuation of the Israeli war on Gaza as a "crime" and insisted that the so-called “two-state” solution was the only way to end the protracted Israeli aggression in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

Olmert underlined that the United States has more influence on the Israeli regime “than all the other powers put together,” and that Trump can “make a difference.”

Trump should summon Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House Oval Office and facing cameras, tell the Israeli prime minister, "'Bibi: enough is enough'", Olmert said, using Netanyahu's nickname.

"This is it. I hope he (Trump) will do it ... I don't know if this will happen. We have to hope and we have to encourage him,” he added.

Olmert said the Israeli prime minister had "failed completely" as the regime’s leader by not preventing the October 7, 2023 retaliatory attack by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

He claimed that the international community accepted what he called Israel's right to self-defense after October 7, but added that the situation changed when Netanyahu spurned chances to end the war in March after the violation of a ceasefire deal and instead ramped up the onslaught on Gazans.

Olmert also criticized Netanyahu for prioritizing his "personal interests" over the Israeli regime's interests.

Despite occasional expressions of concern about the situation in Gaza, the US remains Israel's key ally, using its veto at the UN Security Council and approving billions of dollars in arms sales.

The Israeli military resumed bombardment of Gaza on March 18, killing thousands of Palestinians, and injuring many others, after it shattered the 2-month ceasefire agreement with Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives with Palestinian abductees.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 54,927 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 126,615 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the besieged coastal territory.

Press TV’s website

By Musa Iqbal

Imperialism has always been a project of excess: excess wealth, excess exploitation, excess war, and excess suffering. In its seemingly deteriorating stages, the excess can be found in its widening contradictions, now on display as embarrassing political theater.

The once celebrated alliance between American tech billionaire Elon Musk and con-man turned US President Donald Trump – two pillars of capitalist excess – has imploded in a pathetic public meltdown and spat, exposing the fragility of their union and the deeper contradictions of the Empire.

The episode also illustrates that even within a seemingly unified political front, the capitalist class is only interested in its own personal financial advancements.

The fallout took place across each billionaire’s own social media projects, with Musk posting jabs on X (which he bought in 2022) and Trump posting his own retorts on Truth Social (launched in 2022).

Musk, a staunch supporter of the Democratic Party until a few years ago, very publicly transformed into an ardent and vocal supporter of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, praising the latter’s so-called “crusade” on liberal policies, both social and political.

His vocal support for the two-time megalomaniac American president turned into financial support, donating an estimated $288 million to the Trump campaign and its allies.

In return for his investment, Trump invited Musk to speak at multiple campaign rallies prior to his election win, and after winning the race, allowed Musk to establish “DOGE” or the “Department of Government Efficiency” – a reactionary project aimed at attacking social spending, scientific research, and dissolving departments holding together what little of a social safety net the US has left remaining.

Musk’s installation as the head of “DOGE” – a mission in what Trump and ilk branded as an initiative to cut government spending and dissolve “big government” – would ironically be the alleged crux of the Trump-Musk fallout, paired with Trump’s trade war against China.

It is important for Musk to position himself as a libertarian champion who is against government spending, justifying his creation of DOGE. But the excess spending is not quite the reason why Musk publicly denounced the bill, calling it “an abomination.” 

The reality of the situation is that, despite the bill serving huge tax cuts to the ultra-wealthy like Musk, the clauses and policies regarding tariffs are what potentially threaten Musk’s many projects, such as Tesla and SpaceX, as they import key material from targeted countries, specifically China.

Trump’s bill would make production at Musk’s many projects quite expensive, potentially even forcing projects into a standstill. The negative impact was already demonstrated early on in April, which resulted in Tesla's stock tumbling. Musk wants a solid policy that would not conflict with his own projects.

With Musk’s open insult and challenge to Trump's legislative agenda, he violated the unspoken rule of their partnership: loyalty to Trump.

Trump, always demanding total and unflinching loyalty, responded by wielding the state’s coercive power, threatening to cripple Musk’s business empire by revoking state contracts (of which Trump rakes in billions through initiatives like SpaceX), slightly revealing the tech-billionaire’s true intentions.

Musk upped the ante, posting on X that Trump did not release the highly sought-after “Epstein Files” because Trump itself is implicated in them, possibly suggesting he was involved in illicit activities with the deceased child trafficker. The post is now deleted.

More eyebrow-raising, Musk tweeted that he would support an impeachment of Trump, and support Vice President JD Vance replacing him. JD Vance is the darling of the Silicon Valley Tech Capitalist ruling class, including Zionists like Peter Thiel.

Musk’s support for Vance signals a growing trend in competition and cooperation between the ruling class in the United States, with tech billionaires being the “new wealth” that seeks to topple the traditional industrial and financial oligarchs. Vance is a direct representative of the tech-billionaire class.  

Thus, the drama is not just around the ego of two childish men. This is a surface-level observation. The true driver in this spat is the same driver as any other initiative under imperialism – the pursuit of personal wealth, uninterrupted.

As long as the Trump agenda did not interfere with Musk’s personal wealth gain, Musk could and would remain a fervent supporter of the Trump agenda.

But, with Trump’s own personal gain being threatened by Chinese advances in significant fields (manufacturing, technology), Trump’s tariffs now collide with Musk’s business adventures.

Though the two billionaires project motivations that are seemingly rooted in political agendas that benefit American business, this is all political cover for their own greedy motivations.

What comes next? Unless the two find common ground to pursue their profits without restriction, the more likely outcome is a prolonged “cold feud” between the two. Musk is already inciting his supporters to support the creation of a “new party,” leveraging his wealth and platform to undermine Trump, and, of course, Trump using the state’s economic and legislative levers to retaliate.

The collateral damage—economic, political, and social—will be borne by the American people, who are mere spectators in this elite power struggle.

Musa Iqbal is a Boston-based researcher and writer with a focus on US domestic and foreign policy.

Press TV’s website

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says its recent acquisition and transfer of a trove of classified documents from Israel was an unprecedented intelligence triumph.

The operation delivered a severe blow to the Zionist regime and further eroded its image of invincibility, the ministry stated.

In a statement outlining details of the operation on Tuesday, the ministry called the achievement a “watershed moment” in the Zionist regime’s “shameful” history of intelligence and security failures, and a “historic, unique” victory for the Resistance Axis.

“What we now hold comes at a time when the Zionist regime strives to portray itself as impervious to infiltration."

"While they were reviewing lessons from previous intelligence defeats and believed they had sealed off every avenue of infiltration, they faced the epic ‘Al-Aqsa Storm’ operation by the heroic Palestinian mujahideen, which laid bare an unparalleled intelligence-security fiasco,” the statement said.

The ministry said that the operation was recently completed successfully under the Israeli regime's strictest security protocols.

The statement added that the methods used to access and exfiltrate the documents from the occupied Palestinian territories were so ingeniously designed and executed that they completely neutralized the regime’s multiple security layers.

“The Zionist regime, highly focused on safeguarding these strategic files, had imposed its strictest security protocols. Accordingly, our operatives had to implement a multi-layered, highly sophisticated plan whose complexity remains beyond the regime’s comprehension or the reach of any of its showy measures,” the statement stressed.

It further said that the regime had recently resorted to arresting and sacrificing a few of its own settlers in a sham display to repair its tarnished image—an effort that proved utterly fruitless.

This referred to the arrest of several settlers in recent months by the regime's security forces on claims they were working for Iranian intelligence.

'Israeli docs already in use'

The ministry stated that a significant volume of these materials is already being used by Iran’s armed forces, and that portions can be exchanged with friendly states or provided to anti-Zionist organizations.

“In terms of content, these documents, while diverse in subject, are of strategic, practical, research, and scientific value."

"Some of this information pertains to the regime’s illegal and covert nuclear weapons programs, including its facilities, research, and communications with American and European institutions, as well as its current and future nuclear plans,” the statement read.

It added that other portions include files on military and missile programs, technical dossiers on dual-use science and technology projects, and the names, profiles, photographs, and addresses of the managers, officials, and scientists involved.

“Notably, the documents reveal that the Zionist regime employs not only its own citizens but also foreign-national researchers, whose identities are now known.”

The ministry said that select portions of the trove will be published for public information, while scientific and research findings suitable for domestic use will be shared with relevant institutions.

'Role of Western backers revealed'

The statement also said the documents reveal the depth of Western support for Israel's arms programs and its nuclear development.

The ministry lamented that the same countries have for decades "hypocritically" accused Iran of pursuing non-peaceful goals and imposed the harshest pressures on the country under such pretexts.

“The papers clearly show how the United States and certain European countries have acted as backers, collaborators, and contractors in advancing the criminal Zionist regime’s arms programs. Yet, through double standards and falsehoods, they accuse the Islamic Republic of Iran of pursuing non-peaceful ends,” the statement said.

Among the most striking findings are the multiple spurious reports the Zionist regime submitted to various international bodies, alleging that Iran’s peaceful nuclear program constitutes wrongdoing, which were then echoed by those bodies almost verbatim, according to the statement.

The ministry was referring to a probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of what it calls uranium traces in several undeclared nuclear sites in Iran.

Iran has called the entire case an Israeli fabrication and urged the agency to distance itself from the regime and protect its professional independence.

The West has long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, without providing any evidence.

Tehran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful and part of the country's scientific progress.

Press TV’s website

By Nahid Poureisa 

The arrest and incarceration of Iranian academic Mahdieh Esfandiari in France is not an isolated incident but reveals a consistent and deliberate pattern of politically motivated crackdown against those who dare to speak up for truth and justice. 

This pattern goes beyond censorship. It exposes the double standards in France’s approach to free speech: weaponized to serve the Empire and suppressed when used by the marginalized.

Back in 2015, the publication of blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by the controversial magazine Charlie Hebdo sparked massive outrage across the Muslim world. 

Rather than acknowledging it and taking remedial measures, French President Emmanuel Macron came out in defense of the magazine’s “freedom of expression,” presenting satire and free speech as sacred French values, even at the cost of hurting the religious sentiments of billions of Muslims, including those inside his own country.

Fast forward to 2022: Masih Alinejad, a US-based rabble-rouser sponsored by the anti-Iran American lobby to orchestrate smear campaigns and spread disinformation aimed at destabilizing Iran, was very warmly received at the Élysée Palace. 

Macron praised her role in fomenting riots in Iran, which he called a “revolution,” and publicly supported the so-called “freedom” for Iranian women. This was a clear signal of France’s strategic alignment in a broader hybrid war that seeks to psychologically and culturally undermine the Islamic Republic from within.

Now, in 2025, Esfandiari’s case plays out in the shadows of the same geopolitical theater. 

She was suddenly arrested three months ago over a Telegram post expressing support for Palestine – her only “crime” being the defense of an oppressed people enduring nearly 20 months of genocidal war. 

Without official summons or legal warrant, French police raided her home and subjected her to harsh treatment and harassment before arresting her.

At the same time, controversial Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi was being honored at the Cannes Film Festival, not for confronting power or injustice or speaking against genocide, but for crafting narratives that fit comfortably within Western geopolitical interests. 

As Gaza suffers under Israeli-American bombardment, Panahi’s focus on Iran portrays the nation that is actively resisting the Zionist entity as the villain, conveniently redirecting global attention from real human rights abuses and their perpetrators. 

This contrast exposes a system that punishes those who speak for truth and justice and rewards those who align with Western strategic narratives.

Press TV website reached out to Bashir Biazar, a prominent Iranian music maestro who was also arrested in France last year over his pro-Palestine advocacy work. 

He spoke about how the French government systematically targets supporters of Palestine, labeling them as terrorists and framing them under bogus charges. 

Biazar was detained for a month over a little-seen Instagram post. France accused him of promoting terrorism. He said the charge was “unbelievable and shocking” and difficult for him to even comprehend.

According to Biazar, France is at the forefront of repressing those who support the Palestinian cause amid the ongoing genocide in Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 54,000 since October 2023, most of them children and women.

He explained that these arrests and aggressive measures have no legal justification. That’s why there is never a proper judicial process—no formal charges, court hearings, legal pathways, and accountability. 

The arrests happen suddenly, Biazar told the Press TV website, usually through early morning police raids that break down doors and terrorize residents.

This is exactly how Esfandiari was arrested, he added. There was no warning and no legal notice. For days, she didn’t answer her phone. Concerned friends visited her home but got no response. With help from firefighters, they forced entry and found her apartment ransacked.

Esfandiari was gone. The scene resembled a kidnapping. For nearly five weeks, there was no information about her whereabouts until a news report revealed her detention. 

Biazar, who has closely followed the case, case Esfandiari had no communication with her family, and the Iranian embassy was also kept in the dark. Even her lawyer faced extreme obstacles. It took 50 days before he was finally allowed to meet her.

The French government wants to keep these cases out of the legal system because they are politically motivated, he noted, drawing on his own bitter experience in the country.

"These actions align with the interests of the Zionist regime, with full support from the French government. The charges are almost always the same: accusations of supporting terrorism. That alone shows this is not a legal matter – it is a political one," Biazar told the Press TV website.

He said France claims to be the cradle of freedom of expression, and the French Revolution’s slogan championed free speech. However, during the Charlie Hebdo incident, even after the Prophet of Islam (PBUH) was repeatedly insulted, Macron said he understood why Muslims were upset but insisted that freedom of expression was France’s red line.

He fully backed the so-called "free speech," even if it offended billions of Muslims worldwide. 

"But now, after the Al-Aqsa Flood, any condemnation of the genocide in Gaza, even just expressing it online, is being dealt with most harshly by the French government. They are suppressing it completely," he stated, exposing the hypocrisy of "free speech" in the European country. 

"Mahdieh Esfandiari’s charge is simply defending Palestine via her Telegram channel. Her only “crime” is defending Palestine. This is a disgrace for France."

The French government knows that if this case goes to court, there is no evidence, Biazar hastened to add, and that’s why they operate in secrecy, more like a "mafia kidnapping operation." 

"This secrecy proves the whole process is political. For 40 days, the French government kept her detention hidden. There is only a political solution: this hostage-taking must be shouted about in global media, and political pressure must be applied on France to free Mahdieh Esfandiari."

These arrests, he remarked, achieve nothing except further embarrassing the French government.

"History will never forget the supporters of genocide. The bitter irony is inescapable: France, the proclaimed cradle of freedom of expression, enforces one of the cruelest paradoxes in modern times. Freedom exists only when serving Western interests," said Biazar.

"Genuine calls for justice, liberation, and resistance are swiftly crushed, especially when voiced by Iran or Palestine supporters. France’s large Muslim population, which mourns and condemns the ongoing genocide in Gaza, faces harsh repression if they raise their voices."

Just days ago, Esfandiari’s sister finally broke her silence. In her first interview, she revealed the harsh conditions Mahdieh is enduring in a French prison. She said Mahdieh is being forced to remove her hijab – where is her freedom in that? 

For a Muslim woman who has worn hijab her entire life, such coercion is a form of psychological torture and a breach of the most fundamental right. She is being denied her most basic human rights and imprisoned alongside criminals, only because of her human and political beliefs. 

Defending Mahdieh is not just about one woman’s freedom. It is about standing up against widespread political repression that punishes people for speaking the truth. 

From Macron’s defense of offensive cartoons to his support for "regime change" charade in Iran, from covert arrests to the celebration of politically convenient artists, France’s selective use of “freedom” paints a disturbing picture. 

It shows a country that manipulates the idea of free speech and weaponizes it to suit its interests, silencing voices of conscience while rewarding those who serve its agenda. 

The campaign to free Mahdieh Esfandiari is a stand against this blatant hypocrisy, a call to justice for Palestine, and to be on the right side of history.

Press TV’s website

A senior Iranian Army commander has warned that the Islamic Republic will inflict “beyond imagination” damage to enemies if they engage in any kind of aggression against the country.

“We have a duty to be fully prepared against any threat, and we are completely ready,” Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, deputy chief of the Iranian Army for Coordination, said on Monday.

“Anyone who seeks to violate the territorial integrity and interests of our country can be assured that the damage they will incur will be beyond their imagination,” he stated.

Last month, a US report, citing multiple officials, said Washington obtained new intelligence suggesting that the Israeli regime has been moving air munitions and conducting air exercises, signaling a heightened state of readiness.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to urgently condemn the leaked plan of “rogue” Israel to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The report came while Iran and the US were engaged in indirect talks over the Islamic Republic’s peaceful nuclear program.

Iran and the US have so far held five rounds of indirect talks on a replacement for the 2015 nuclear deal, which was derailed by the American withdrawal in 2018.

However, the talks have faced an obstacle over the US demand for Iran to stop enriching uranium under any new deal.

Iran says it will not forgo its right to uranium enrichment, which is guaranteed under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the NPT.

‘Iran self-sufficient, exports military equipment’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Sayyari stressed that Iran has managed to manufacture weapons and ammunition domestically, despite the sanctions.

Today, “by relying on our domestic capabilities, we meet our needs”, he said.

The senior commander noted that Iran domestically produces more than 90% of the military equipment needed by the armed forces, adding "We have not only become self-sufficient in securing our equipment, but are also active in the field of military equipment exports."

Press TV’s website