Unconditionally surrendering the tabs ...
An Iranian woman sends a message to the Islamic regime:
— Dr. Maalouf (@realMaalouf) June 17, 2025
“We will dance on your grave with all our hearts. We now have joy and hope for the future.
The murderers of Iran’s children and women will fall. The Islamic regime will perish!” pic.twitter.com/5sUtmfefhj
Ed: According to Grok -- obvious caveats apply -- this really was taken on a street in Tehran. Let's all hope that this woman's faith in justice is vindicated, and as fast as possible.
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As mentioned in today’s Morning Jolt, Ayatollah Khamenei is 86, four years older than Joe Biden.
Come on, Biden cabinet. If the Iranians can remove their leader from making key decisions because of his poor mental state, why couldn’t you?
Nonetheless, I look forward to Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s next book, Original Djinn: Ayatollah Khamenei’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Remain Supreme Leader.
Ed: This was a fantastic jab from my pal Jim Geraghty.
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"The war that erupted when the mullahs took over Tehran in 1979 and sent proxies to destroy Israel for the last 46 years ..."
— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) June 17, 2025
Fixed it for you. https://t.co/LmbHydyXTS
Ed: American media orgs keep pretending this war started on Thursday. It started in 1979, and this phase of it started on October 7, 2023. Israel has finally tired of 46 years of war from Iran and they are putting an end to it.
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Israel’s operation against Iran “will not end without damaging the Fordo nuclear facility,” promises National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi in an interview with Channel 12.
The site, 90 meters (295 feet) underground, houses thousands of centrifuges to enrich uranium. Israel’s conventional munitions can’t reach that deep, and it would take the US joining the fight to knock it out from the air.
“I don’t know if the US will join,” says Hanegbi, adding that Israel is talking to the US continuously, but is not trying to convince them.
Ed: Today, it doesn't sound as though Trump will need much convincing. The administration sent up more trial balloons than China's intel services during the Biden Regency. Limited action on Fordow alone would likely get significant bipartisan support, especially if it quickly put an end to the nuclear threat from Iran.
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This "endless war" shrieking is ridiculous. Trump bombed the Houthis for six weeks and then ended it. He fought ISIS for around two years, defeated them, and then ended it. Trump killed Soleimani and did not engage further. He degraded Al-Shabaab in Somalia for three years and… https://t.co/f1GYld9Erp
— Noah Pollak (@NoahPollak) June 17, 2025
Ed: We have allowed the Iranian regime to conduct a 46-year endless war against the US, Israel, and the West because we were too feckless to act. We could have ended this in 1979 when the regime committed an act of war by seizing our diplomatic personnel and holding them hostage, and then after repeated terror attacks on Americans in the MIddle East and elsewhere. Trump isn't leading us into an "endless war"; he's allowing Israel to finish it.
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On Wednesday July 3, 1940, Winston Churchill had a decision before him as hard as any he ever had to take in his long career of statesmanship. If the Vichy French fleet stationed at Oran in Algeria were to fall into German hands, as seemed highly likely, it would, when combined with the German and Italian navies, pose an existential threat to his country, which after the Fall of France was already gearing itself up for the Battle of Britain.
The French admiral would neither hand his fleet over to the Royal Navy, scuttle it, nor sail it to Canada. So, after some anguished heartache, the lifelong Francophile Churchill ordered it to be sunk, which it was with the loss of 1,299 French sailors.
There are some moments in history when a sudden act of opportune ruthlessness readjusts the world toward a safer path.
Ed: Churchill remained bitter about the French Navy in this episode, as his six-volume series The Second World War made clear. Andrew Roberts is pessimistic that Trump will act to take out Fordow while the possibility exists, and believes that he'll take the Neville Chamberlain route and seek a deal. That may be unfair, given today's events, but it's a real concern. The easiest path would be to sell a B-52 and the proper munitions to Israel and let them do it, which I expect will be the eventual solution. It's an interesting essay nonetheless.
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Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran and son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi of Iran, who was deposed from power in 1979, released a message earlier today to the People of Iran, calling for an uprising against the Islamic Regime, stating, “the Islamic Republic has come to an end and… pic.twitter.com/6mNJNA4HGV
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 17, 2025
“the Islamic Republic has come to an end and is falling — Now is the time to stand up. The time to take Iran back. All of us together — Do not be preoccupied about the day after the fall of the Islamic Republic. Iran will not enter a period civil war or Instability, we have a plan for Iran’s future.”
Ed: I'm skeptical that the Pahlavis will have much of an impact here. The 1979 revolution was initially very popular because of abuses and oppression under the Shah. The mullahs have used the Pahlavis as propaganda, warning that the West wants to reimpose the monarchy and steal the wealth of Iran. Perhaps Reza Pahlavi has a positive role to play here in renouncing any such claims and acting to help a democratic state come into being after the mullahs fall. Color me skeptical about this, however.
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As Israel and Iran exchange airstrikes, cybersecurity experts are warning that a quieter, but still destructive, digital conflict is unfolding behind the scenes.
- And U.S. companies could soon find themselves in the blast radius.
Why it matters: Iran and Israel are home to some of the world's most skilled hackers. Escalating tensions between the two could spill over into cyberspace, potentially disrupting critical infrastructure, commercial networks and global supply chains.
Ed: This is not a new threat. Both countries have waged cyberwar against each other, and the Iranians have done so against us, for years now. Remember Stuxnet? The Israelis are very good at this.
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IS TAKING ON IRAN PART OF THE "AMERICA FIRST" AGENDA? (1/2)@bungarsargon: " @realDonaldTrump has earned the right and earned the credibility to walk this fine line of being both pro-Israel, but always putting us and, of course, our troops first." pic.twitter.com/q6HeUlgEdo
— The Will Cain Show (@WillCainShow_) June 17, 2025
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Sen. John Fetterman: "Taking out Iran at this point, that's necessary if you ever have a chance to have any real peace in the Middle East." pic.twitter.com/r7MLRAZ2ZU
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) June 17, 2025
Ed: John Fetterman is a voice of reason and wisdom in the Democrat Party.
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Biden said no to Netanyahu on several things, including mass displacement from Gaza and striking Iran. But there was a highly effective left-wing influence campaign to obscure this, which facilitated the election of Trump, who was far more amenable to all the things Biden wasn't. https://t.co/GIyepSz2JC
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) June 17, 2025
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Ed: I'm taking a couple of days off. I just want a break. You know ... some quality family time. That sort of thing.
(Seriously, see you on Friday. No regime changes while I'm out, mm-kay? Holiday Ro-OH-ooH-OOO-ooh-ooh-oad...)
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