JERUSALEM, Israel – Growing unrest inside Iran is raising urgent questions about the regime’s future and its impact on regional security. New developments highlight how internal pressure on Tehran is colliding with warnings from the U.S. and escalating tensions involving Israel.
New intelligence reports indicate Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has a contingency plan if his regime collapses. The 86-year-old cleric would flee Tehran for Moscow with his family and inner circle if security forces fail to crush the expanding protests.
The report comes as demonstrations continue to spread nationwide, marked by increasingly open defiance of the Islamic Republic itself.
Speaking with CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief Chris Mitchell, global terrorism expert Dr. Amir Hamidi emphasized that what is unfolding now is not just another wave of unrest, but is possibly a historic moment for the people of Iran.
“What we are witnessing right now is not an isolated event. It is a turning point, I think, and this is a nationwide demand to end the Islamic Republic after 47 years of repression across Iran from Tehran–it’s for the Shah to come and Iranians are chanting, ‘no to Gaza, no to Lebanon. I give my life for Iran. Along with the dictators, death to thee.’ And this is very interesting,” he stated.
Hamidi added, “We’re seeing this happening, chanting all over Iran. This is the year I think the regime will be toppled.”
As pressure mounts, Tehran is lashing out at Israel. Iran’s Foreign Minister accused Israeli leaders of stirring unrest.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghei charged, “Actions or statements by the prime minister of the Zionist regime, as well as by certain radical officials regarding Iran’s internal affairs, are nothing but incitement to violence, terrorism, and killing in the language of international norms.”
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President Donald Trump signaled that the United States is closely monitoring the situation, underscoring that Tehran could face serious consequences if the regime moves to suppress the demonstrators violently.
“We’re watching it very closely,” the president said. “If they start killing people, like they have in the past, I think they’re going to get hit very hard by the United States.”
Meanwhile, Israeli officials insist Iran’s partnership with Venezuela is being used to extend its destabilizing reach far beyond the Middle East.
Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian noted, “Now the (Israeli) Foreign Ministry has actually said that Venezuela has destabilized the region there, serving as a base for Hezbollah terror operatives and hosting Iranian weapons production facilities.”
US forces reportedly attacked Hezbollah targets in the strike that captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro on Saturday, and the Trump administration has proclaimed it will no longer tolerate an Iran/Hezbollah presence there.
Against that backdrop, Israel carried out airstrikes against Hezbollah and Hamas targets in southern and eastern Lebanon, continuing to confront Iranian-backed threats.
