Islamic Republic

The decision follows a spate of attacks on UAE-owned tankers and Tehran's rejection of talks with the US.

A blockade would impose real costs on Tehran and make Israel safer. But weakening Iran is not the same as toppling the regime. It is the difference between buying time and solving the problem.

Netanyahu also recalled a phrase someone had said that "the first Islamic republic with nuclear weapons will be the Islamic Republic of Britain."

Was this comment diplomatic? Obviously not. Was it a sweeping exaggeration? Certainly. Does it reflect Netanyahu’s view of Britain? Probably far more accurately than the usual diplomatic niceties do.

IDF, Mossad officials shocked for the second time in two years by the speed of Iranian post-war recovery • IDF seeing a stunningly speedy turnaround in ballistic missile threat

Decapitating a military leadership can create disruption. But Iran’s latest appointments suggest the regime’s institutions - and the strategic thinking behind them - remain firmly in place.

“We must not get used to the blockade as we did with sanctions,” Majidreza Hariri told Iranian site Khabar Online. “We should impose the cost of lifting the blockade on the US, even through war."

Ahmad Vahidi was formally named IRGC chief as Khamenei filled six senior military positions following the deaths of their predecessors in Israeli-US strikes.

For nearly five decades, the Islamic Republic has diverted national resources toward ideological expansion, proxy warfare, and regional confrontation.

Statements attributed to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei named Mohsen Rezaee as his representative to the Supreme National Military Council and Mohammed Bagher Zolghadr as his political advisor.