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Trump’s Iran ‘Nuclear’ Signals Raise Concerns in Tel Aviv

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
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Trump’s Iran ‘Nuclear’ Signals Raise Concerns in Tel Aviv

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is concerned about signals from US President-elect Donald Trump, particularly regarding Iran and the West Bank, political sources in Tel Aviv said.

The sources indicated Trump is seeking a nuclear deal with Tehran rather than a military strike and appears unsupportive of any Israeli move to annex the West Bank.

Trump’s aim, the sources added, is to send a clear message to Iran that both military and diplomatic options remain on the table to address its nuclear threat.

He is also leveraging the possibility of an Israeli attack as a means of pressure.

Trump is reluctant to go to war with Iran and does not see the need to completely destroy its nuclear facilities, a goal Israel cannot achieve alone, political sources said.

The US President-elect favors a major Israeli strike supported by the United States from a distance rather than a large-scale joint military operation, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is pushing for.

Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS reported that Trump told Netanyahu he would address Iran’s nuclear program but opposed Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

The report added that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s comment that “2025 will be the year of annexation” drew criticism from Republican Party sources, who warned that annexation would harm Israel’s international standing.

Israeli media said Trump and Netanyahu held talks on Saturday, while Netanyahu’s envoy, Adam Boehler, held meetings in Israel to discuss key issues.

Israeli analysts said on Monday that Netanyahu is unlikely to order a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, citing domestic divisions over judicial reforms and a lack of clear support from Trump.

They noted Iran has not yet decided to build a nuclear weapon, reducing the urgency for military action.

Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, said regional developments in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, along with changes in US leadership, have created a rare opportunity to strike Iran.

“Iran’s air defenses are weaker, flight paths are open, and the threat of an Iranian counterattack has diminished,” Barnea wrote.

Still, he said Netanyahu remains hesitant, recalling how the prime minister abandoned a similar plan in 2011 and blamed Israeli security officials and the Obama administration for the retreat.

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World

Iran Judicial Chief Says Protest Instigators to Receive No Leniency

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
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Iran Judicial Chief Says Protest Instigators to Receive No Leniency

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)
In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, Iranians attend an anti-government protest in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP, File)

The head of Iran's judiciary warned on Sunday that those behind a recent wave of anti-government protests could expect punishment "without the slightest leniency".

What began earlier this month as demonstrations against the high cost of living boiled over into a broader protest movement that represented the gravest challenge to the country's clerical leadership in years.

The protests have abated following a government crackdown, carried out under an internet blackout that left the country largely cut off from the outside world.

"The people rightly demand that the accused and the main instigators of the riots and the acts of terrorism and violence be tried as quickly as possible and punished if found guilty," judicial chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying by the official Mizan online news portal.

He went on to say "the greatest rigor must be applied in the investigations," but insisted that "justice entails judging and punishing without the slightest leniency the criminals who took up arms and killed people, or committed arson, destruction and massacres".

The Iranian government has put the death toll from the protests at 3,117, including 2,427 people it has labelled "martyrs" -- a term used to distinguish members of the security forces and innocent bystanders from those described by authorities as "rioters" incited by the US and Israel.

Rights groups, however, have said protesters account for the vast majority of the deaths, documenting several thousand killed, with the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights saying the final figure could top 25,000 dead.

- 'Just in case' -

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has said more than 26,000 people have been arrested in relation to the demonstrations.

Iran is the world's second most prolific user of the death penalty after China, and the soaring number of arrests and vows of stiff punishment have raised fears it could use executions to repress dissent.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to intervene militarily should Iran begin putting protest suspects to death, but has recently softened his rhetoric after claiming Tehran had suspended planned executions.

On Thursday, he told reporters on the way back from Davos that the United States was nonetheless sending a "massive fleet" toward Iran "just in case".

The United States carried out strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June when it briefly joined Israel's 12-day war against the country.

Rights groups have accused authorities of repeatedly using live ammunition on protesters, but Colonel Mehdi Sharif Kazemi, commander of Iran's special police, maintained authorities had used only non-lethal measures such as water cannons to quell the unrest.

"The use of weapons (by the police) during this operation has sparked some criticism, but in fact, the police did not resort to using any firearms," he was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency on Sunday.

"We used non-lethal means in order to guarantee the safety of the population and avoid any killings."

World

Iran Unveils Mural Warning of Retaliation if US Conducts a Military Strike

A billboard depicting a damaged US aircraft carrier with disabled fighter jets on its deck and a sign reading in Farsi and English, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," is seen at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
A billboard depicting a damaged US aircraft carrier with disabled fighter jets on its deck and a sign reading in Farsi and English, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," is seen at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Unveils Mural Warning of Retaliation if US Conducts a Military Strike

A billboard depicting a damaged US aircraft carrier with disabled fighter jets on its deck and a sign reading in Farsi and English, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," is seen at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)
A billboard depicting a damaged US aircraft carrier with disabled fighter jets on its deck and a sign reading in Farsi and English, "If you sow the wind, you'll reap the whirlwind," is seen at Enqelab-e-Eslami Square in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP)

Iranian authorities unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in a central Tehran square on Sunday with a direct warning to the United States to not attempt a military strike on the country, as US warships head to the region.

The image shows a bird's-eye view of an aircraft carrier with damaged and exploding fighter planes on its flight deck. The deck is strewn with bodies and streaked with blood that trails into the water behind the ship to form a pattern reminiscent of the stripes of the American flag. A slogan is emblazoned across one corner: “If you sow the wind, you will reap the whirlwind.”

The unveiling of the mural in Enghelab Square comes as the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and accompanying warships move toward the region. US President Donald Trump has said the ships are being moved “just in case” he decides to take action.

“We have a massive fleet heading in that direction and maybe we won’t have to use it,” Trump said Thursday.

Enghelab Square is used for gatherings called by the state and authorities change its mural based on national occasions. On Saturday, the commander of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard warned that his force is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger.”

Tension between the US and Iran has spiked in the wake of a brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that saw thousands of people killed and tens of thousands arrested. Trump had threatened military action if Iran continued to kill peaceful protesters or carried out mass executions of those detained.

There have been no further protests for days and Trump claimed recently that Tehran had halted the planned execution of about 800 arrested protesters — a claim Iran’s top prosecutor called “completely false.”

But Trump has indicated he is keeping his options open, saying on Thursday that any military action would make last June’s US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites “look like peanuts.”

US Central Command said on social media that its Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle now has a presence in the Middle East, noting the fighter jet “enhances combat readiness and promotes regional security and stability.”

Similarly, the UK Ministry of Defense said Thursday that it deployed its Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar “in a defensive capacity.”

The protests in Iran began on Dec. 28, sparked by the fall of the Iranian currency, the rial, and quickly spread across the country. They were met by a violent crackdown by Iran’s theocracy, which does not tolerate dissent.

The death toll reported by activists has continued to rise since the end of the demonstrations, as information trickles out despite a more than two-week internet blackout — the most comprehensive in Iran’s history.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency on Sunday put the death toll at 5,529, with the number expected to increase. It says more than 41,200 people have been arrested.

The group’s figures have been accurate in previous unrest and rely on a network of activists in Iran to verify deaths. That death toll exceeds that of any other round of protest or unrest there in decades, and recalls the chaos surrounding Iran’s 1979 revolution. The Associated Press has not been able to independently verify the toll.

Iran’s government has put the death toll at a far lower 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and security forces, and labeled the rest “terrorists.” In the past, Iran’s theocracy has undercounted or not reported fatalities from unrest.

World

France Detains Captain of Suspected Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker Seized in Mediterranean

The silhouette of a French navy boat surrounding the GRINCH oil tanker, intercepted by France in the Alboran Sea on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to Russia's shadow fleet that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions, and diverted to the port of Marseille-Fos, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, - Reuters
The silhouette of a French navy boat surrounding the GRINCH oil tanker, intercepted by France in the Alboran Sea on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to Russia's shadow fleet that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions, and diverted to the port of Marseille-Fos, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, - Reuters
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France Detains Captain of Suspected Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker Seized in Mediterranean

The silhouette of a French navy boat surrounding the GRINCH oil tanker, intercepted by France in the Alboran Sea on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to Russia's shadow fleet that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions, and diverted to the port of Marseille-Fos, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, - Reuters
The silhouette of a French navy boat surrounding the GRINCH oil tanker, intercepted by France in the Alboran Sea on suspicion of operating under a false flag and belonging to Russia's shadow fleet that enables Russia to export oil despite sanctions, and diverted to the port of Marseille-Fos, in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, - Reuters

The captain of a tanker intercepted in the Mediterranean Sea by the French navy on suspicion of shipping oil in violation of sanctions against Russia was reported Sunday as being held in custody for questioning.

The ship’s Indian captain was handed to judicial authorities following the diversion of the oil tanker, Grinch, and its arrival at anchorage in the Gulf of Fos-sur-Mer, French media reported, citing a statement by the Marseille prosecutor’s office.

The Ici Provence radio broadcaster reported that the crew, also of Indian nationality, was being kept on board. A preliminary investigation was opened on charges of failure to fly a flag, according to Reuters.

The Grinch came from Murmansk in northwestern Russia and is suspected of being part of the sanctioned Russian “shadow fleet." A video provided by the French military showed members of the navy boarding the ship from a helicopter earlier this week.

Russia is believed to be using a fleet of over 400 ships to evade sanctions over its war on Ukraine. France and other countries have vowed to crack down.

The fleet comprises aging vessels and tankers owned by nontransparent entities with addresses in non-sanctioning countries, and sailing under flags from such countries.

Last September, French naval forces boarded another oil tanker off the French Atlantic coast that President Emmanuel Macron also linked to the shadow fleet. Putin denounced that interception as an act of piracy.

That tanker’s captain will go on trial in February over the crew’s alleged refusal to cooperate, according to French judicial authorities.