Neither the US nor Israel will 'succeed in replacing the Iranian regime,' retired US general says

A retired U.S. general predicted that "neither Israel nor the U.S. will fully succeed in replacing the Iranian regime." 

Former Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz was quoted by the Israel Hayom newspaper as making the remark. The joint U.S. and Israeli missions against Iran, named Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion, are in their 20th day Thursday.

"In my professional assessment, neither Israel nor the U.S. will fully succeed in replacing the Iranian regime. The main reason is that there are dozens, if not hundreds, of Iranian religious leaders who can replace the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah, if he is eliminated," Schwartz told Israel Hayom. 

"No matter how many successors you kill one after another, there will always be another one in line. Iran's intelligence and security apparatus, the Revolutionary Guards, and the Iranian military also have depth. They are capable of replacing the top of the organization if it is destroyed," he reportedly added. 

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Schwartz is a career Green Beret who served in the U.S. Army for 33 years, according to The National Special Forces Green Beret Memorial, where he is the chairman of the advisory board.  

The organization said, "During his career, Mark served throughout the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa," and, "He has had the opportunity to lead strategic planning and operations working with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States Agency for International Development." 

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Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard had warned Wednesday that if the Iranian regime survives Operation Epic Fury, "it will likely seek to begin a yearslong effort to rebuild its military, missiles and UAV forces."   

Gabbard also said the intelligence community "assesses that Operation Epic Fury is advancing fundamental change in the region that began with Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, and continued with the 12-day war last year, resulting in weakening Iran and its proxies."   

The campaign so far has resulted in the killing of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been replaced by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei. 

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12 Arab and Islamic countries unite to condemn 'heinous' Iranian attacks

A group of 12 Arab and Islamic countries on Thursday condemned Iran’s "heinous" attacks, denouncing missile and drone strikes on civilian infrastructure and warning Tehran against further escalation.

The foreign ministers of Qatar, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates issued the joint statement after a consultative meeting in Riyadh.

The countries accused Iran of deliberately targeting residential areas, oil facilities, airports and diplomatic premises across the region.

The ministers reaffirmed what they called the right of affected countries to defend themselves under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter and urged Iran to immediately halt its attacks and abide by international law.

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They also called on Tehran to respect their territorial sovereignty, cease support for affiliated militias in Arab countries and avoid actions that could threaten maritime security, including in the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandab, a key global shipping route linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The statement further expressed support for Lebanon’s stability and sovereignty, while also condemning Israel’s actions in the country and its "expansionist policy in the region."

"The Ministers reaffirm their commitment to continuing intensive consultation and coordination in this regard, to monitor developments and assess emerging issues in a way that ensure the formulation of common positions and the adoption of necessary legitimate measures and procedures to protect their security, stability, and sovereignty, and to halt the Iranian heinous attacks on their territories," the joint statement reads.

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It comes a day after Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gas field, prompting Iranian retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, including Doha’s Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest LNG production facility.

Oil prices surged Thursday morning following the strikes, with Brent crude rising to $114.08 a barrel and U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude climbing to $97.41.

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President Donald Trump said on his Truth Social platform that Israel would halt further strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field unless Tehran escalates, warning that the United States could respond with overwhelming force if Qatar’s LNG facilities are targeted again.

"The United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before," Trump wrote. "I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran, but if Qatar’s LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so."

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Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei 'misfunctioning,' not controlling regime: sources

Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is little more than an "empty entity" who is not at the helm of the regime, according to Israeli national security sources.

The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a targeted Israeli strike on Feb. 28, is also linked to what officials describe as a "misfunctioning" regime.

"The new leader is an empty entity," Kobi Michael, a defense analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute, told Fox News Digital.

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"Mojtaba Khamenei does not appear in public, but we also have reliable information that he does not control or lead the regime or what has been left of the regime.

"The current Iranian leadership is broken, confused and is almost misfunctioning."

Mojtaba reportedly escaped death by minutes when his father was killed Feb. 28, leaving the compound for a walk shortly before an Israeli missile strike, according to leaked audio accessed by The Telegraph.

The audio, reportedly from a March 12 meeting, revealed details about the strikes that also took out several members of the Khamenei family.

Mazaher Hosseini, head of protocol for Khamenei’s office, is supposedly heard in the audio telling senior leaders that Mojtaba sustained "a minor injury to his leg." 

Since being named supreme leader, Mojtaba has not made one public appearance. Instead, a message by him was read on Iranian state TV, warning of continued strikes and urging Gulf nations to shut down U.S. bases.

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Other reports claimed Mojtaba was in critical condition or even in a coma, though Iranian officials have insisted that the new supreme leader is in good health.

Mojtaba Khamenei vowed revenge Wednesday after the killing of senior security official Ali Larijani in an Israeli strike.

"Such acts of terror only reflect the enemies’ hostility and will strengthen the resolve of the Islamic nation. Undoubtedly, justice will be served," the statement said.

Larijani, one of Iran’s top security figures, was killed after Israeli intelligence reportedly located him and other officials on the outskirts of Tehran.

Other senior figures have also been killed in recent strikes, including Basij militia leader Gholamreza Soleimani, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

"This is not a new phase, but a continuing effort and a very successful and impressive one and a crucial component of the strategy meant to weaken the Iranian regime," Michael said of the continued strikes at regime figures.

"This is to the degree that it will not be able to reconstitute itself and/or to become again a severe threat and destabilizing player in the broader Middle East."

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After the opening U.S.-Israeli strikes, President Donald Trump told the Iranian people that their "moment of freedom" was at hand.

"When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take," Trump said, suggesting the U.S. would help bring down the Iranian regime.

"At the very same time, by weakening the regime and paralyzing its capacities generally speaking and its domestic control specifically, the U.S. and Israel are facilitating the required conditions for the Iranian people to topple the regime," Michael added.

"This is the ultimate victory in their eyes, and the route to this destination is that they are trying to increase any damage wherever they can."

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Iran’s hidden mountain nuclear site raises urgent threat, must be ‘neutralized': reports

Iran’s potentially most dangerous nuclear site is buried as deep as 100 meters below a granite mountain, according to new assessments, and one nonproliferation expert warned it must be "neutralized" before the U.S. war with Iran ends.

This came as new figures released Wednesday by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) show that U.S. and Israeli forces launched Operation Epic Fury in late February and have since struck more than 7,800 targets in Iran as the conflict enters Day 18.

"Before the United States and Israel end major combat operations against Iran, they must complete two urgent tasks," Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a policy briefing.

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"First, they must neutralize Pickaxe Mountain. Second, they must recover or eliminate highly enriched uranium stocks to prevent them from falling into the hands of surviving regime elements, other adversarial states or terrorist proxies."

High-resolution satellite imagery from mid-February shows Iran's accelerated efforts to reinforce the site at Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, known as "Pickaxe Mountain," against potential airstrikes, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.

"At one of the eastern tunnel entrances, rock and soil can be seen pushed back and leveled on top of the tunnel portal," the institute's report said.

"Additionally, over the last month, a concrete-reinforced headworks for the tunnel entrance extension was added. This allows for additional overburden in the form of rock, soil or concrete."

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The report added that "these efforts strengthen the tunnel portals and provide additional protection against an airstrike," noting visible piles of construction materials near the entrances.

Preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon is one of President Donald Trump’s stated war aims. 

In June 2025, U.S. forces carried out strikes against nuclear sites, including Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan.

Iran had roughly 441 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% as of June 2025, enough material, if further enriched to weapons-grade levels, for multiple nuclear weapons, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Rafael Grossi, its director general, also said March 9 that the U.N. watchdog believes roughly 200 kilograms of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile are still stored in deep tunnels at a nuclear complex outside Isfahan.

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Grossi added that additional quantities of highly enriched uranium are believed to be at another nuclear center in Natanz, where Iran has constructed a new fortified underground facility at Pickaxe Mountain.

On March 9, Trump pointed to Iran’s efforts to resume nuclear activity at a deeper site and said Tehran has continued pursuing a nuclear weapon "even after we obliterated their key nuclear sites."

"They were starting work at another site, a different site … that was protected by granite. … They wanted to go a lot deeper, and they started the process," Trump said, according to reports.

According to Stricker, the "different site" referenced by Trump is Pickaxe Mountain, where Iran has said it has been building a centrifuge assembly plant at the site since 2021. The site is a mile from its Natanz enrichment plant.

"The size of the facility, as well as the protection provided by the tall mountain, raised immediate concerns about whether additional sensitive activities are planned, such as uranium enrichment," the Institute for Science and International Security also noted in its report.

At the beginning of March, a vehicle was struck outside the site, presumably by Israel, The Wall Street Journal reported, before suggesting that the vehicle strike was evidence the U.S. and Israel are watching the mountain carefully.

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Fiery aftermath of Iran missile strike near Tel Aviv caught on video after 2 killed

Video footage captured the fiery aftermath of a ballistic missile strike that hit Ramat Gan, a neighborhood east of Tel Aviv, overnight Tuesday, killing at least two people, according to Israeli officials.

The footage shows a car engulfed in flames, with wreckage scattered across the street as emergency responders assess the scene and ambulance sirens sound in the background.

The missile was launched by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which said it targeted central Israel to avenge the killing of Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the country’s most powerful figures.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it launched Khorramshahr-4 and Qadr multiple-warhead missiles, which it claims have an increased chance of evading missile defense systems and can overwhelm radar tracking. 

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Israel said the two victims killed in the overnight strike were a couple in their 70s.

The attack is part of a rapidly escalating tit-for-tat conflict that began Feb. 28 following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, which have since killed multiple senior Iranian officials. Those include Larijani and Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij militia, who was killed Tuesday.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz also said Iran’s Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib was killed in an overnight strike, though Iran has not confirmed his death.

Iran has responded with a widening campaign of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel, U.S.-linked positions and energy infrastructure across the Persian Gulf, including strikes reported in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

The broader conflict has raised fears of a regional war and potential disruptions to global energy supplies, as Iran has also threatened shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a critical transit route for the world’s oil. 

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Israel kills Iranian intelligence minister who survived initial strike, official says

Israel killed Iran’s Minister of Intelligence Esmaeil Khatib in a precision strike overnight, a senior Israeli official told Fox News Wednesday.

The official said the strike was enabled by a joint U.S.-Israeli intelligence effort and described Khatib as a central player in plots targeting American officials.

"This man had American blood on his hands. His network specifically targeted current and former U.S. officials, including President Donald Trump," the official added.

Khatib had previously survived a sweeping strike on Iran’s senior leadership at the "Defense Council" compound in Tehran during the opening phase of Operation Epic Fury, where more than 40 Iranian leaders were killed in roughly 40 seconds, according to the official.

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He was reportedly the only person to survive the initial attack.

"Today, he met the fate of his combatant comrades," the official told Fox News.

Israel has targeted and killed several senior Iranian leaders since the start of the war, including Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Basij unit, and Mohammad Pakpour, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The Israel Defense Forces said Khatib played a central role in directing crackdowns on protesters, including arrests and killings during recent unrest and the nationwide demonstrations sparked by the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.

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The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Khatib in 2022 for his role in leading Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), which U.S. officials said was responsible for cyberattacks against the United States and its allies. 

Treasury said the ministry oversaw global cyber operations targeting government and private-sector organizations, including disruptive attacks on critical infrastructure.

United Against Nuclear Iran, a non-partisan advocacy group, said Khatib enlisted in the IRGC at the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 and studied under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic.

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He joined MOIS in 1985 or 1986 after it was established in 1983.

The State Department’s Rewards for Justice program last week offered up to $10 million for information on senior Iranian security figures tied to the IRGC and its networks, including Khatib.

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Pro-life leader criticizes 'insane' UK bill that would decriminalize certain abortions up until birth

EXCLUSIVE: The leader of an international pro-life group is criticizing a bill being considered in the United Kingdom that would protect women from criminal liability for abortions up until birth.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, 40 Days for Life CEO Shawn Carney said British lawmakers are following efforts by Democrats in the U.S. in seeking to allow abortion in these instances, which he described as "absolutely absurd."

"They haven't really lobbied for this," Carney said. "Typically, Europe is far more conservative on abortion than the United States. Most European countries regulate abortion to 12 weeks. England has 16. In some cases, they do late term, up to 24 weeks. But now they want abortion through all 40 weeks. And this just seems sort of out of nowhere."

Carney said he fears this bill, if enacted into law, would "start an unfortunate trend throughout Europe."

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The Crime and Policing Bill includes a provision, Clause 208, that would remove criminal penalties for women in England and Wales who end their own pregnancy at any stage. The bill is now in its final stages in the House of Lords and is expected to receive a vote as early as Wednesday. If the House of Lords approves the clause, the bill would return to the House of Commons for any final changes before receiving Royal Assent to become law.

Under the provision, a woman can no longer be investigated, arrested or prosecuted for ending her own pregnancy at any gestation, even though the current standard legal threshold for most abortions in England and Wales is 24 weeks.

While women who terminate their pregnancies would be exempt from criminal liability, doctors and others who assist in an abortion after 24 weeks without medical necessity can still face prosecution.

As lawmakers consider Clause 208, several amendments have been offered, including removing it entirely, modifying it to exclude late-term abortions and adding an in-person requirement for medical consultations to end so-called "pills-by-post" services.

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Carney argued that the latter two amendments should still be unacceptable, stating that the clause appears to represent "a desire to kill."

"I think it's insane," he said. "I know what they're trying to do, but you need to combat the laws by saying we're not aborting children at 40 weeks. The left built an entire movement on being able to survive outside the womb with viability. Then, as science and medicine progressed, viability changed because we could do a lot for unborn children. So they said at first it was 24 weeks, and then it was 22 weeks. Some say it's 20 weeks. Others say it's still 22 weeks. Nobody's ever said it was 40 weeks. They've all said, of course, you can survive outside the womb. This is just a desire to kill, it seems, at 40 weeks."

"I understand the idea of trying to make a legal compromise," he continued. "But the compromise would be that you people have lost your minds. You want to abort a child the day before he or she is born. And it's not medically necessary. The baby's completely viable … so that's how I think that you have to defeat these bills."

Carney also said that "people don't want to celebrate abortion" and "certainly don't want to brag about how they can have an abortion up to 40 weeks," adding that opponents of the U.K. bill are "missing common sense responses" to efforts to allow any abortion up until birth.

He added that while most people are not "monsters" seeking abortions at 40 weeks, removing legal liability for women at that point could make abortion more socially acceptable.

"I think what it does is it takes a little bit of a stigma away from abortions at 8, 10, 12, 16 weeks, because typically what we've seen in the U.S. is when you have states that say, hey, you're going to have an abortion through all 40 weeks, what they do is say, well, okay, I'm not that bad. My abortion is not that bad because it's only at 10 weeks, it's only at 12 weeks, it's only at 16 weeks," Carney said.

"It's not that you're going to see a lot of abortions at 40 weeks. It's the mentality that abortion is not a big deal. You can even do it the day before birth, and so it's more acceptable to most people," he continued.

"People aren't monsters," he added. "The monsters write these bills, which are typically very liberal White people who say, you know what, we need to be able to have an abortion the day before your birthday. And most people look around at a party and say that person's clinically insane."

The left "has just married themselves to this," Carney said.

"They believe you need unfettered abortion at all times in order to be a free and just society," Carney said. "But nobody's actually really medically needing that whatsoever."

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